Might as well give Ragnar his own thread as well, since folks are bound to want to share a few of craving's thunderclaps in approval. Kicking off with the Club stuff then. It's a two-year deal, with a Club option for a further 12 months. please log in to view this image "The centre-back was an integral part of the Iceland team who exceeded all expectations at this summer’s European Championship in France, playing every minute as the Nordic nation reached the Quarter-Finals, where they were eventually knocked out by the host nation. Fans will be familiar with Sigurdsson after he scored the equaliser for his country in the knock-out victory over England, a game in which he was named Man of the Match. His form at the competition subsequently attracted a lot of attention from high profile clubs across the continent. Sigurdsson began his career at local side Fylkir, before moving to Swedish outfit IFK Göteborg as a 20-year-old. He played more than 100 times for the club before moving on to Copenhagen in 2011. During his time with the Danish giants, he featured in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, and won both the Superliga and domestic Cup, prior to joining Krasnodar for a reported £3m in January 2014. Sigurdsson has been a regular in the Russian side’s backline since his arrival, again sampling Europa League football over the course of the past two seasons."
Very pleased with this, as I mentioned elsewhere I could easily have seen him signing for a premier league club. Any idea of what sort of fee we paid? Even though he only had 1 year left on his contract, given his form at the Euros I'd imagine his club were still wanting a decent fee, it won't have been peanuts.
No stories about the fee FAB but Krasnodar paid £3m for him. And if you read this blog about our new Viking from his a Russian friend I suspect they'll have negotiated that and a bit more: http://russianfootballnews.com/ragnar-sigurdsson-fc-krasnodars-icelandic-viking/
I'm not surprised if we did pay around £3m-£4m and to be honest I think its money well spent. Players that do well at euros and world cups can cost a lot more than that. If we paid anything less then its a bargain. The question I have is that if hes here to be a regular starter and come straight into the team then who drops out? Madl and Kalas have looked good together and would be harsh for either to be dropped. Perhaps Madl can play in midfield beside McDonald? I'm sure I've read he can play DM
How about if the Gaffer plays 3 at the back .....Kalas...Sigurdsson...Madl... That then gives him whacks of combinations he could play in front of them. You could start with Odoi and Sessegnon as wing backs and go from there. Indeed, given that the one position we have a load of players is midfield, you could argue that that single signing of Sigurdsson at a stroke gives him the cover he so desparately wanted. All apart from the ellusive. proven striker of course.
