Brisbane Roar’s attacking stocks have received a massive boost ahead of the Hyundai A-League season with attacking young gun Kofi Danning signing a two-year deal with the club.
An Australian representative at U20 and U23 level, Danning-s youth and speed make him an ideal addition to Head Coach Ange Postecoglou-s championship-winning squad.
“Kofi is someone we highlighted at the end of last year and I think he-ll fit into our system well so it-s pleasing that he-s finally signed for us for a couple of years,” Postecoglou said.
“We-ve got a lot of work to do with him but he fits into our style of game really well and I think he-ll develop into a real attacking weapon for us over the next twelve months.
“We-re quite confident in the style of player he is and the type of person he is so I-m sure he-ll do really well for us.”
The former Sydney FC player was ecstatic to be in the Queensland capital, delighted to have the opportunity to learn and develop as a footballer under the guidance of Postecoglou and his coaching staff.
“I-m so excited to be here and to start a new season and a whole new experience,” Danning said.
“I-ve spoken to Ange and he sees me developing here and sees me improving my game and sees me getting opportunities which is good for me because that-s all I want.
“I want to prove myself to everyone, that-s why I-ve come to Brisbane – to do the best I can and to make people proud.”
While the 20-year-old was one of the many who marvelled in the heroics of his new club-s historic Grand Final victory in March, Danning said it didn-t factor into his decision to move north.
He instead named his development as the biggest reason he put pen to paper with the Brisbane club.
“I think looking at their success from last year, I had to put that aside and think about what I wanted to do as a player and think about how I wanted to improve and that-s why I made this decision,” he said.
“In the last two years, I haven-t been progressing and I haven-t had much game time.
“I need to start improving and I think coming here will allow me to do that.”
Coach Postecoglou said Danning had the potential to be one of Brisbane Roar-s key players.
“He-s got to take that challenge, it won-t be easy to break into our team but we try and target young players who we think have the potential but haven-t had the opportunity,” he said.
“Hopefully that hunger drives him to improve and our goal is to get as much improvement out of him as possible and I-m sure once he gets used to the way we play, he-ll be a big contributor.”
Born in Ghana, Danning emigrated to Australia at the age of seven and after a year with the Australian Institute of Sport in 2007, he made 22 appearances for the Sky Blues, scoring three goals including one against the Roar.
