Notts County have completed the signing of striker Elisha Sam – and boss Neal Ardley believes he will be an “exciting” addition to the squad.
The 6ft 5in centre forward arrives at Meadow Lane from Arda Kardzhali where he wrote his name into the history books to score their first goals in the Bulgarian top flight.
Notts faced significant competition to secure the 23-year-old’s services, but have won the race to make him their fourth summer signing.
He is the second European arrival to join the club this summer, following Ruben Rodrigues who joined from Dutch second division side Den Bosch.
Magpies boss Ardley is looking forward to working with the giant forward but admits fans will need to be patient with him as he looks to settle in England.
“We wanted to add pace to complement the way we try to play and it’s rare to find someone with a target man’s build who’s also mobile and quick,” he said.
“We thought it was going to be a long shot to get Elisha and there’s been a lot of hard work to get it to this point.
“He’s come out extremely strongly in all our research and his movement is the thing that really took me by surprise. He enjoys dropping into pockets and technically he’s very, very good.
“He’s a really pleasant boy who’s worked hard for every team he’s played for – we’ve done our research on that as well.
“We feel he’ll fit into everything we’re trying to grow here and that he’ll be an exciting addition. “
“It’s never easy coming to a new country so we’ve got to be a little bit patient with him but he’s well above his years in his maturity and I think he’ll take it in his stride.”
Sam started his career at the impressive Standard Liege academy before going on to join Israeli Premier League side Hapoel Acre.
He did not score a goal in seven appearances for the club before he moved to Holland where he joined FC Eindhoven in 2018.
Sam scored eight goals in 33 appearances for the Dutch side which then earned him a switch to Arda Kardzhali.
And he scored twice in their 3-1 victory over Beroe as they sealed their first win for a team from Kardzhali in the top division of Bulgarian football.
His arrival follows that of Jake Reeves, Casper Sloth and Rodrigues.
