‘I knew straight away he was our type of player’ – Millwall boss on landing OH Leuven midfielder Casper De Norre
Millwall manager Gary Rowett has revealed he instantly knew that Casper De Norre was “our type of player”.
The South London club announced this afternoon that the OH Leuven midfielder had joined for an undisclosed fee.
De Norre, 26, has been a target for the Lions since the end of the last Championship season.
He has played Champions League football for Genk as well as representing Belgium at U21 level.
“As soon as I saw him, I knew he was our type of player,” Rowett told the South London Press. “He just had that real energy about him.
“He’s a midfielder who can drop and build possession. He’s technically good enough to go and link, play forward and bring forward players into the game early. He’s also a player who can break the game up, go and press, close people down – he covers distance well.
“He’s an intelligent player. He understands the game, when to sit and create some balance and when to get forward and step into space. He’s an all-round midfielder. He has shown the ability to get into the box and score goals. He’s also shown the ability to get the ball off the back players and build possession.
“He was also captain at Leuven, so he’s got those leadership qualities we are looking at. We think it is a great age for him to take the step into English football.
“He’s a player we’ve been trying to sign for quite a long time now.
“Like usual the recruitment team do a lot of really, really good work and they’ll highlight players that they think are worth looking at. Then myself, Ad (Adam Barrett) and Robbo (Paul Robinson) will sit down and watch the players. He was one that straight away stood out.
“He looks like a player who could be really, really suited to the Championship. When you watch more, you see a lot of his other qualities. Mobility is a big thing in today’s game and he’ll bring that to the team but also the fact he is equally comfortable dropping deeper and playing as well as stepping forward. We’re always looking for the flexibility.
“I think he’ll be a fabulous addition to our squad.”