United manager Mark Robins thanked chairman Peter Swann for his support in completing the signing of Kevin van Veen, while also expressing his delight at completing the signing.
The Dutch forward arrived from FC Oss after completing a medical on Friday, joining the club despite speculation of other interested parties, and he arrives in North Lincolnshire on a three-and-a-half year deal.Robins, who says Saturday’s match at Leyton Orient will be “too early” for van Veen to be involved, was relieved to “get the deal over the line.”
“It has been fairly straightforward,” the United manager told The Iron Player.
“It’s taken time and we have got there in the end but we are pleased because there has been a number of clubs interested and there was more and more by the minute last night.
“It was a good team effort, the chairman was fantastic as usual, Lee Turnbull played a good part and myself and Ned have been to see him and we tied it up last night which was fantastic.
“Everything going on with the stadium and training ground and everything else happening at the club stands us in good stead. We hope everyone buys into what is happening because the chairman is doing unbelievable things.
“We are trying to bring in players that will make us better and give us a real chance of succeeding, the backing is there for everyone to see and he (Peter Swann) was very excited about things. That is brilliant because if you haven’t got the enthusiasm of the owner you may as well pack up and go home. He has enthusiasm to burn and he is fantastic.”
While the weather delayed the completion of the move, Robins was thrilled about the potential van Veen offers, although he urged fans to be patient as settles into English football.
The 23-year-old is the second-highest scorer in Holland’s second tier, with 16 goals in 20 appearances this term, notching three hat-tricks.
Robins said: “He is a good player, what I wouldn’t want is people to expect miracles straight away, he has got potential to be a real good signing for us and he has to make that transition because he has been playing in the second division of Dutch football. It is different because we have been over and had a look, but he has some real good qualities.
“I was always positive with everything (about the deal), things take time but it was fairly straightforward. We met him before a few months ago, so we have been developing a relationship and that helped us in the long run.
“There was interest from other clubs, managers were ringing his agent last night while we were doing the deal. It was interesting to see the names linked with him. It is good and he could be a real coup for us.
“The supporters will be excited, they won’t know too much about him except bits and pieces from clips, he has got work to do no doubt, hopefully he can hit the ground running.
“We have to be patient for him to be a success with us, we signed him on a long-term deal and we have got a lot of faith in him. He has worked hard and come from non-League having been released from PSV and he went into FC Oss this season and lit it up by scoring plenty of goals.
“We know he can finish, he has that in his locker, physically he will be okay, he just has to get up to speed with the pace of the game and the style of football.
Robins admits the deal has distracted him from the weekend trip to the Matchroom Stadium, where Leyton Orient are the opponents. Now he says he can put his full focus back on the match and, after he was coy about the signing in his Thursday press conference, he is pleased to get the deal complete.
“It has taken my mind away from the game,” he added.
“I have turned my attention back this morning with a training session while he has had a medical to complete.
“I am just glad by being methodical and doing things the right way. For obvious reasons it is amazing and once we are linked the floodgates open and we are glad to get it over the line.
“Technically, he is very good, a good scorer of all sorts of goals, a great turn of pace and there are areas where we will work, he is not the finished article but it is the style of football he has to get used to with the robust nature of League One, just be patient.”
See much more from Mark Robins and Kevin van Veen on The Iron Player.