Adelaide United Director of Football, Bruce Djite, discussed the process involved in signing Norwegian Kristian Opseth and his expectations for the striker.
Opseth put pen to paper on a one-year deal for the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season, and is the third new recruit to arrive this offseason.
The 29-year-old has scored at a prolific rate throughout his footballing career, bagging 98 goals in 181 matches.
Djite revealed just how the move came about and proceeded to close out the deal following Head Coach, Gertjan Verbeek’s, approval.
“I’ve been in Australian football for a while myself as a player,” Djite told reporters at Coopers Stadium.
“So I have a very diverse and broad network of agents who get in touch more frequently now than when I was playing.
“And one that I trust recommended Kristian and looking at how the team went last year and what the Club needed it was clear that we needed a striker. Not any striker but a very talented one.
“I then followed up and analysed Kristian’s games last season, prior to that. He’s played a lot of games, he’s scored a lot of goals quite consistently especially the last three or four years.
“And then after that it became a discussion around what are the possibilities, how soon can he get here. He could come relatively quickly, he was a free player and following that I then brought the possibility of bringing Kristian to the Head Coach.
“I’m not unilaterally making decisions here, it’s a team effort and the coach also analysed Kristian’s game and he was very happy.”
Officially, official.#AUFC #WelcomeKristian
📰 Read more: https://t.co/MCo12XFYQp pic.twitter.com/4cylgMKAGZ
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) July 31, 2019
Djite further added that assessing the character of the individual was also important before completing the deal.
“I then spoke to Kristian on the phone and his agent as well to get a feel for the character, the individual,” he explained.
“And I’ve got a pretty good radar when it comes to the character of an individual and Kristian seemed like he’d be a perfect fit not just on the field but off the field as well.
“I’ve had one-on-ones with all the players and a lot of feedback has been about how good the group is. How tight knit it is, the culture, the family atmosphere that they’ve within the team and the dressing room, and first and foremost me taking this job it was about signing good people first and good players second.”
ICYMI in our original Kristian Opseth reveal, we left this Easter egg at the end… 💥⚽🥅
📰 Read more: https://t.co/MCo12XFYQp#AUFC #WelcomeKristian pic.twitter.com/Eb235ajlz5
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) July 31, 2019
Djite was confident Opseth will have a positive influence at the Club, and expected the former Bodø/Glimt target man to help the team win in all facets of the game.
“I think he’ll undoubtedly have a very positive impact,” he said.
“My expectations of Kristian and the whole Club’s expectation is to help the team win.
“That could be scoring a goal in the last minute of the game, it could be defending a corner in the last minute of the game.
“It’s important to score goals as a striker, but there’s no point scoring two goals and losing 3-2 because you forgot to track your runner on a corner in the last minute.
“So he’s got responsibilities in the attacking and defensive third. It’s a team game.”
Adelaide United face Melbourne Knights in the Round of 32 of the FFA Cup 2019 on Wednesday, 7 August at Knights Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACST. Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports.
