St Patrick's Athletic add Estonian midfielder Kreida to squad

St Patrick's Athletic have signed Estonian midfielder Vladislav Kreida on a season-long loan from Meistriliiga club Flora, subject to international clearance.

Kreida made his senior international debut in June 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifying defeat away to Germany and has gone on to claim 21 caps so far.

He has played for his country in European qualifiers, World Cup qualifiers and the UEFA Nations League and won the Baltic Cup with Estonia in 2020.

The 23-year-old has also won the Estonian Premier League three times with Flora and lifted the Estonian Cup in 2019-2020.

He's made 90 appearances with the Tallinn side and had loan spells with Helsingborgs IF (Sweden), Veres Rivne (Ukraine) and Skovde AIK (Sweden). He will wear the number 17 shirt at Richmond Park.

Manager Tim Clancy said: "We are very happy to welcome Vlad to St Pat's and it's good to get another new face into the club.

"He will give us good options in the middle of the pitch. We need plenty of options in every position and Vlad will give us that.

"He has got excellent experience in the game so far for someone aged 23 at both club and international level and we are really looking forward to working with him."

The Saints follow Sligo Rovers in recruiting from the Estonian league with Bodan Vastsuk and Frank Liivak lining out for the Bit O'Red this year in what is proving a popular market for Irish clubs.