Image source, Getty Images
Sindre Walle Egeli (left) has been given the number eight shirt at Ipswich
Ipswich Town have completed the signing of Norway international forward Sindre Walle Egeli for £17.5m, breaking the record for a transfer fee spent by a Championship club.
The 19-year-old has signed a five-year contract at Portman Road after joining from FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark, where he scored 11 goals in 40 appearances having arrived from Sandefjord in his homeland aged 16.
Ipswich's outlay on Egeli, who has been capped by Norway from under-15 through to senior level, eclipses the £15.4m spent by Burnley last summer to make Mike Tresor's loan from Genk into a permanent deal.
"I'm really excited to have signed for this club," Egeli told the club website., external
"This is a club with great history and great plans for the future and this is something I really want to be a part of.
"As soon as I knew Ipswich were interested I was excited to come and I believe this club is the perfect place for me to progress in my career.
"I have had some great conversations with the manager and now I can't wait to get started, meet my team-mates and also the supporters."
Egeli becomes Ipswich's 11th signing of the summer transfer window and their fourth inside a week, which has included the arrival of Marcelino Nunez from East Anglia rivals Norwich City for a deal worth £10m.
Relegation from the Premier League has led to a number of high-profile departures, with Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson being sold for a combined £67.5m, helping fund such a move for Egeli, who can operate on either wing.
The teenager, who made his senior debut for Norway last September in a Nations League tie against Kazakhstan, has not been registered in time to make his debut against Derby County on Saturday.
Kieran McKenna's Ipswich have started the Championship season with two draws and a defeat.