Dundee United boss Micky Mellon has rewarded Florent Hoti with a two-year deal after the midfielder impressed on trial.
The 19-year-old Kosovan has spent the last few weeks at Tannadice and has now clinched a permanent switch from former club Rochdale for an undisclosed fee.
Speaking to DUTV, Hoti said: “I’m delighted to get the deal done. It’s been a long time coming given I’ve been here before on trial. I’m buzzing to play for such a big club with the history and fans that it has.
“There are great facilities here and, as a young player, I’ve come here to develop. We’ve got everything here to improve and it’s a great platform for me to continue my growth as a player. I can’t wait to get started.
Manager Mellon added: “Flo is a really talented boy and we feel, with the ingredients we’ll be able to add to an already impressive lad, that we’ll have a really good player here at Dundee United.”
Meanwhile, Mellon has challenged United to respond to their Rugby Park thrashing by smashing Rangers’ shutout record.
The Tangerines were squashed by Kilmarnock before the international break as they slumped 4-0 in East Ayrshire.
But Mellon does not believe there are major problems with his team and has backed them to produce a better display against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday.
Steven Gerrard’s team became the first Scottish side to open a top-flight campaign with six clean sheets since 1906 with their victory over Hamilton last month.
But the Tannadice boss has thrown down the gauntlet in front of his team after tasking them with becoming the team who finally find a way through the Light Blues defence.
He said: “It’s a great opportunity for us to go down to Glasgow and see where we’re at as a team.
“The Old Firm are the ultimate test in Scotland, so we’ll treat Rangers the same way we treated Celtic earlier this season.
“They haven’t conceded a league goal yet and that’s a massive challenge for us – but one we’re looking forward to taking on.
“We’ll be positive and go all-out to try to become the first team to score against Rangers.
“I need to be careful with what I say because we lost four goals at Kilmarnock. But my job is to look at the performance and ask why. When I went over the game and spoke to the players about it, I could see we just need to get better at certain moments.
“There is a lot of stuff we’re doing well and stuff we want to do better. It’s all about just continually moving forward.
“We understand that we’re facing a team that gets an awful lot right and that’s why they’re a top team. So when we go down there we also have to get an awful lot right.
“We know it’s a big occasion, but this isn’t a day out. I firmly believe that Dundee United should always aim to be competitive in every game. That’s the status of this club and the place it holds in Scottish football.”
