FAI CUP CHAMPIONS Dundalk have confirmed the signing of English forward Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe.

The 26-year-old was the top scorer of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division in 2019 while representing Derry City and, following a brief stint in Israel with Hapoel Hadera at the start of 2020, spent the second half of last season at Sligo Rovers.

“It’s a league that I know and there will be no surprises but this is a new challenge for me and every club has different expectations and pressures,” Ogedi-Uzokwe told dundalkfc.com.

“Dundalk is a very ambitious club and the aim is to keep winning and achieving more in Europe. If you hear that a club like that is interested in you, then it’s really exciting and I’m delighted to be here.

“I think I played against Dundalk six times when I was at Derry and each game was very tough so it’s good to be on the other side now,” he added

“I trained with the boys on Tuesday. It was a good session and I enjoyed every bit of it. The plan now is to get to know the boys more and see how they play and for them to get to know my strengths.

“We have a lot of attacking threats and options in the squad. We have a lot of different players and I think we will complement each other and make each other better.”

Ogedi-Uzokwe scored 16 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions for Derry two years ago, and topped the league scoring charts with 14 ahead of his new team-mate Patrick Hoban (13).

Though he scored just twice in 15 appearances for Sligo last term, he was influential in the Bit O’ Red earning a fourth-placed finish and European qualification.

The Londoner is Filippo Giovagnoli’s eighth signing ahead of the new season, following the arrivals of Ole Erik Midtskoken, Alessio Alibi, Sam Stanton, Sonni Nattestad, Raivis Jurkovskis, Peter Cherrie and Taner Dogan, the latter of whom returns after spending last season at Athlone.