Preston North End’s summer recruitment continues last week as Iceland international Stefan Teitur Thordarson completed a move to Deepdale.
A new midfielder was an absolute priority for PNE this summer with Alan Browne deciding to move on.
The North End captain decided to leave this summer and has already completed a move to Championship rivals Sunderland.
PNE needed to find a new box-to-box threat in midfield and have gone to the European market to find Browne’s replacement.
North End have snapped up Silkeborg midfielder Stefan Teitur Thordarson, beating the likes of Derby County and Queens Park Rangers to his signature.
A fee of around £700,000 has been paid for Thordarson, who was inside the final stages of his Silkeborg contract.
Thordarson arrives with international experience having made more than 20 appearances for Iceland, scoring one goal.
The 25-year-old is a tall box-to-box midfielder who has shown the ability to carry the ball through midfield and even pop up with a few goals; Thordarson scored 11 times last season.
So it’s hard for me to point out too many of Thordarson’s weaknesses given most of my time watching him was in Iceland, when he had become too good for the league very quickly.
But playing as a midfielder, Thordarson’s eye for a goal is definitely a big strength, given he originally started life as a striker. Thordarson enjoyed the Wayne Rooney progression into midfield, just at the start of his career rather than at the end.
When he was young Thordarson scored 10 goals in 22 games in Iceland’s second division, which really caused scouts to start taking notice.
And then after a few seasons of refining his game as a box-to-box midfielder it was time to head to Denmark, where he never really looked back.
Thordarson’s size means he’s a great runner with the ball, and also handy in a duel too.
Thordarson broke through with ÍA in Iceland and seemed to split his time between defensive midfield, central midfield and even as a striker; which position and role do you think is Thordarson’s best?