New York City FC today announced that Jo Inge Berget has joined the Club.
The 27-year old Norwegian international striker becomes City’s seventh offseason addition, joining as a free agent, pending receipt of his P1 Visa and ITC.
Following the signings of Cedric Hountondji, Jesus Medina, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Brad Stuver, Ismael Tajouri and Anton Tinnerholm, Berget will join his new teammates during preseason.
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Berget told NYCFC.com: “I feel delighted, I’m really looking forward to getting to New York and getting to play in MLS for one of the best teams and hopefully we’re going to win a trophy this year.
“New York has been up there at the top but they’ve never won, so hopefully we can make a change to that. I know about the coach and some of the players there and they like to play offensive football. I think it’s going to suit me really well.
“When New York comes in for you, it’s a big deal – it’s a nice city and it’s a good club. For me and my family, it was an easy decision in the end.”
Head Coach Patrick Vieira is pleased to have acquired another versatile player with a winning mentality, who will help to set the standards for his squad.
Vieira said: “Jo is a player with good experience in Europe and he’s a player who can play in many different positions - on the wing, as a 9, or as a number 10.
“We’ve added another quality player with versatility, with a work ethic on the field which is something that is really important to us.
“What I like about him is his competitiveness. He’s a fighter, he works hard and he’s a leader in the way he plays.
"He comes to New York with a winning mentality, he has experience of winning trophies in Sweden and he is someone who will challenge all of the other players in the squad to be at their best.”
Sporting Director Claudio Reyna highlighted Jo Inge’s stature, versatility and work ethic as important attributes he’ll bring to the Big Apple with him.
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Reyna explained: “We are very happy to welcome Jo Inge to NYCFC and excited about his ability to slide into various attacking roles including center forward or playing in wide areas of the field.
“He is a player who will impact our team on both sides of the ball. He has a knack for scoring goals and combines well with his teammates and, on the defensive side of the ball, he has a relentless work rate to win the ball back for the team.
“Jo Inge also has size which is something we lacked in attacking areas and, at times in certain games, you need that component to try and handle the more physical teams and to be able to create chances in different ways.”
Berget was most recently a teammate of fellow new signing Anton Tinnerholm for the past three seasons at Swedish Allsvenskan side, Malmo FF.
A forward capable of playing centrally or on either wing, Jo has enjoyed a long and distinguished career which has seen him play in the top divisions of Norway, England, Scotland and Sweden.
Starting out his career at Tippeligaen side FC Lyn Oslo in his native Norway in 2008, Berget joined Udinese shortly after his debut, although he never made an appearance for the Serie A club, instead spending the next three years on loan back at Lyn and at Stromgodset.
A permanent switch to Molde followed which saw Jo make his name with 17 league goals in 63 appearances, including the opener in a title-deciding game vs. Tromso which gave Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s men their first league championship.
He helped Molde to retain their title in the following year before Solksjaer took Berget with him to Cardiff City in the English Premier League in 2014 but opportunities were limited for the 6’1’’ forward in the Welsh capital.
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Following a brief loan spell at Celtic, Berget reignited his career by signing for Malmo FF in January 2015 and it was there he scored two goals vs. former side Celtic to help his team reach the UEFA Champions League group stages where they faced off against Real Madrid later that year.
Berget arrives at NYCFC as a Swedish champion, finishing the 2017 Allsvenskan season as his team’s top scorer with ten goals as Malmo secured back-to-back league titles.
Berget’s international career commenced in January 2012 when he made his senior debut vs. Thailand and he’s since gone on to earn 20 caps, scoring two goals.
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