NIGERIAN youngster Akinkunmi Amoo has joined FC Copenhagen from Hammarby, the Danish club have confirmed.
Amoo was a key member of the Golden Eaglets squad that represented Nigeria at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2019 and has been tipped to play for the Super Eagles soon.
He was even considered for the expanded squad to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, with Super Eagles head coach Austin Eguavoen commending his talent.
“Copenhagen have signed Nigerian attacking talent Akinkunmi Amoo from Swedish side Hammarby IF on a contract until the end of 2026,” the Danish side announced on Monday.
“Amoo, 19, is primarily a winger but can cover several offensive positions.
He boasts 13 goals and nine assists from 48 appearances for Stockholm club Hammarby, who he joined as a youth player.”
Copenhagen sports director Peter Christiansen hails the signing of Amoo, describing the Nigerian as ‘extraordinary’.
“Amoo is one of the most interesting young players in Scandinavian football,” Christiansen said.
“He is a player with fantastic acceleration and great abilities one on one, and he is also quite dangerous. The potential is huge, but there is also a lot of hard work ahead of him. If we succeed in releasing this, he can achieve a lot.
“We already have a large number of talented players in our squad, and we have only brought Amoo in because we think he is extraordinary and can give our offensive set-up even more options.
“We want to build a very strong attack with many opportunities, and Amoo gives us an incredible boost and some additional qualities to those we already have.”
Amoo, who became an important player for Swedish top flight side Hammarby in his short stay there, says he is looking forward to the new challenge in Denmark.
“I have had a fantastic time at Hammarby, and I have great respect for the club and the fans there,” he told Copenhagen’s website.
“They gave me the chance and believed in me and I will never forget that.
“Therefore, I am also very happy that the clubs have made an agreement that both parties are happy with. Ever since I heard about the possibility of coming to FC Copenhagen I have hoped that it could be done.
“FCK is an international club with ambitions to compete against the biggest teams in Europe, and I was really attracted to be part of these ambitions.
“There have been other opportunities for me along the way, but I feel that FCK is the correct next step for me in terms of career. Here I can develop and learn a lot together with the fantastic players that the club already has.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge and to stepping into Parken, which is a fantastic stadium with passionate fans.”
Copenhagen head coach Jess Thorup feels the arrival of the young Nigerian winger is a big plus ahead of the second half of the Danish Superliga season.
“Both in the short and long term, I am sure he will be a great asset to us,” Thorup noted.
“He has an absolutely incredible athlete and can really put people off with his dribbles. He brings that degree of X-factor and a new threat into our offensive play, where we are going to have a lot of options to utilise.
“We are happy that we now have a good training camp coming up to get to know each other better and field some new boys in the team, so that we will be sharp when it kicks off on 20 February against OB.”
FC Copenhagen were only founded in 1992 but have won the Danish top flight title 13 times and are regular campaigners in European competitions.
They finished third last season and are second this term, two points behind leaders FC Midtjylland halfway through the season.
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