Sligo Rovers sign New Zealand international Nando Pijnaker

Sligo Rovers have announced the signing of Nando Pijnaker on a season long loan from Portuguese side Rio Ave.

The 22-year-old makes the move to the Showgrounds after the departure of fellow centre back John Mahon, who moved to Scottish side St Johnstone last month.

Pijnaker was born in Holland and moved to New Zealand as a child. He won four senior caps at last year’s Olympic Games and also represented the country at under-20 level.

The left-sided centre-back began his career at New Zealand Premiership side Eastern Suburbs AFC and has enjoyed previous spells at Grasshopper in Switzerland and Helsingor in Denmark.

Pijnaker told sligorovers.com that he is looking forward to taking his chance at the Showgrounds.

“It’s fantastic to be here,” he said.

“It’s a move that appealed to me and my main motivation is to play matches and help the team. I know the season is 36 games plus Cup football and European games so I know a chance will come at some point and I will take it.”

“I spoke with the manager a couple of times, and I was impressed by what he said. He had been speaking with my agent and I felt this was a good opportunity to go to a team playing European football at a good standard as well.”

“Ireland as a country is quite similar to New Zealand in many aspects. I think I’ll be able to adjust and I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone and playing in front of the supporters in The Showgrounds.”

Liam Buckley shared his thoughts on what strengths Pijnaker can bring to his side, who also have a European campaign to come this summer.

“With the loss of John Mahon, it was important to bring in another defender at centre-half,” said Buckley.

“We’re very pleased to bring in Nando. Nando has a lot of what you want from a defender in terms of his height, strength, his tackling and also his distribution as well. He’s coming into a new league, but we feel he can do well here.”

“I’ve no doubt he’ll be contributing over the course of the year, and I can see by the conversations we’ve had that he is extremely keen to make an impact with us.”

Sligo kick off their 2022 campaign at home to Bohemians on Saturday 19^th February.