Oldham Athletic make continental double swoop

Oldham Athletic have turned to Europe to boost their flagging League Two fortunes, bringing in Urko Vera and Sonhy Sefil.

24-year-old defender Sefil has signed a one-and-a-half year contract with the club, having previously been with Lyon Duchere AS and Asteras Tripoli in Greece. He started out at French club SC Sedan Ardennes before moving to Auxerre, where he made 23 appearances.

Striker Vera has significant La Liga experience, as well as some Champions league pedigree. The 31-year old started out with Athletic Bilbao, but has also appeared for SD Eibar and CD Mirandes  where he scored 17 goals in 38 second tier outings. He has also played for CA Osasuna and SD Huesca in Spain.

His wider travels have also taken him to South Korea where he appeared for Jeonbuk Hyundai, whom he helped to the league title. More recently he has been plying his trade in Romania with Champions League side CFR Cluj as well as Astra Giurgiu.

Both players will be available to Pete Wild for tomorrow’s clash with struggling Macclesfield.


Our View

I’m always sceptical when a player moves from abroad to the lower reaches of the Football League. We’ve seen it backfire in the past, Oxford United lost their league status in 2006 because of such a policy.

Oldham have lurched around mid table this season but recently sacking Frankie Bunn was a disappointing and unpopular decision. it has to be asked who is sanctioning the transfers of these players when a new manager is yet to be found.

One thing is for certain, that article gave our spell checker a good workout.

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