Sligo Rovers can confirm the signing of Portuguese striker Pedro Martelo on a deal until the end of the 2023 season with the club having option of extending for the 2024 season.

The 23-year-old striker scored in the friendly victory over Celtic B on Tuesday night as a trialist and has joined up with his Rovers team-mates at training this morning for the first time officially.

Pending International Clearance, Martelo could be part of John Russell’s squad for Saturday night’s game against Cork City at The Showgrounds.

Russell spoke about his latest recruit today:

‘’I’m delighted to secure the signing of Pedro Martelo.

‘’Pedro came through the youth system at Benfica.

‘’He has represented Portugal at underage level where he scored numerous goals, while also winning the 2018 UEFA European U19 Championship.

‘’He most recently played in Portugal with Belenenses’’.

Martelo has had spells at Benfica, Deportivo La Coruna in Spain and back in Portugal with Pacos Ferreira and most recently Belenenses.

He will wear the number 9 shirt for the Bit O’ Red this season.

Russell feels Martelo could become a player that supporters will like:

‘’He is a strong and powerful centre forward who is excellent at linking the play and has great movement inside the box.

We’re all looking forward to working with him and I’m sure our supporters will enjoy watching him play’’.

We’ll hear from our new signing later on sligorovers.com