Cardiff City have beaten Manchester United to the signing of Norway international ace Mats Moller Daehli, according to Bluebirds boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Solskjaer confirmed the deal following Cardiff’s 2-0 home defeat to West Ham United on Saturday.
Daehli, 18, arrives from Molde FK after an impressive debut season at the Aker Stadion.
The highly-rated 18-year-old midfielder becomes Solskjaer’s second signing this week, following former Manchester United reserves and Molde team-mate Magnus Wolff Eikrem to the Cardiff City Stadium.
“I am pleased to announce we have signed Mats from Molde, we had some competition and I’m glad to say he has chosen to come to Cardiff instead of going back to where he was before,” said Solskjaer.
“He had talks with United, they had the option to bring him back as part of the deal with Molde but he has decided to come here and that shows his desire to do well here.”
Solskjaer believes Daehli can become one of the best midfielders in the English Premier League, likening him to Manchester City duo David Silva and Samir Nasri.
“He is an outstanding talent. He will be 19 in March, he has just made his debut for Norway so he will give us energy, enthusiasm and good ball control,” added the former United forward.
“I don’t want to liken him to too many players and put pressure on him but he is a central midfielder, he likes to work between the lines and take people on. He is a player of the future. You see the Samir Nasris and David Silvas, in a few years you never know where Mats might end up.”
Cardiff, currently in 18th-place in the league table, are priced at 4/6 to avoid relegation.
Wickham ‘loving’ Wednesday loan
Sunderland striker Connor Wickham has revealed he is ‘loving’ his current loan spell at Championship side Sheffield Wednesday after the club’s 6-0 rout of Leeds United on Saturday.
The England Under-21 international, 20, has bagged eight goals in 11 league appearances for Wednesday this season, but the Owls are still just four points clear of the relegation zone.
Wickham, who joined Sunderland from Ipswich Town in a deal worth £8 million in 2011, is due to return to his parent club at the end of January, while his current deal at the Stadium of Light is set to expire in the summer of 2015.
“I’m loving it,” the 20-year-old told Sky Sports. “I said before that I wanted games, I’m getting games now and thankfully we’ve got a good team.
“We’re creating chances, we scored six today and it could have been eight or nine. It’s important that we got the three points and you can see what it means to the fans.”
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