Sligo sign Jaanai Gordon on loan from West Ham

Sligo Rovers have signed striker Jaanai Gordon on loan from West Ham until the end of August.

20-year-old Gordon worked with new Sligo manager Dave Robertson at Peterborough United when Robertson was the club's academy manager.

Gordan has had loan spells with Chelmsford City, where he scored five times in 10 games, and Nuneaton Town in the Conference with whom he played five times with one goal towards the end of the 2014/15 season.

This season he has been with the West Ham development squad, scoring four goals in ten games for the Hammers.

Speaking to the clubs official website, manager Dave Robertson said: “I have known Jaanai for a long time. I watched him through his journey.

“He signed first for the under-12s and came all the way through the system. He got fast-tracked into the first team and made his debut in the Championship at 16 years of age.

“That attracted a lot of interest from some of the big clubs and he was sold at the age of 17. He has developed really well since and still has two and a half years left on his contract.

“He has been scoring regularly this year with the West Ham under-21s. Jaanai is an exceptional talent who is a natural goalscorer as well.

“I think he can score regularly here for us this season. I see him as an out and out centre forward.

“He will give us the threat we need up front to score goals and play with the attacking style we are looking for.”

“He also has good physicality, in the last six games he has scored a few headers and shown great strength and power, he is progressing in that area which will be important for us. I know that West Ham will be monitoring how he is doing closely.

“He has been training regularly with the first team as well as playing with the under-21s. There will be close contact with everybody over there with how things are progressing.

“They feel that this will really help his game so that when he goes back he will be fitter, stronger and ready to make the break into the first team. He has a really big future.”

Robertson added that he is far from done assembling his squad and has his sights set firstly on adding his defence.

“We are still talking to a few players. I am looking to bring in some defenders to add to our strength in that area. Hopefully in the next few days we may have some news on that.

“We also may bring in an additional forward but it needs to be someone with the right calibre. They need to be able to add to us and the togetherness that we have already.

“Both as a player and a person they need to be able to slot into the environment that is there in the team.”