Friday 8 January 2016 16:39, UK
Norwich City have completed the signing of Portuguese right-back Ivo Pinto from Dinamo Zagreb for a fee in the region of £2.2m.
The Portugal U21 international, who was 26 on Thursday, has put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half-year contract at Carrow Road.
Pinto, who had also attracted interest from Stuttgart and Anderlecht, started his career with Porto and moved on to Rio Ave and Romanian side CFR Cluj before joining Dinamo on a four-year deal in July 2013.
He has since made over 100 appearances for Dinamo and helped them win the Croatian title in 2014 and 2015 as well as the Croatian Cup last year, while also featuring in their 2-1 win over Arsenal in the Champions League earlier this season.
He told Norwich's official website: "I'm very excited to come here and play for a big club in the Premier League. I'm looking forward to starting work to help the team achieve their goals."
He later told a press conference: "It was my best birthday present ever yesterday being told the deal was done to join Norwich. I told my Dad it'll be like playing Champions League each week. The best teams in the world are here and every week they have big games.
I'm very excited to come here and play for a big club in the Premier League.
"All the teams have a lot of quality, a lot of fast play and this is a fantastic move for me. As a player I will grow up a lot and as a person also.
"I am very aggressive, a very fast player and the fans can expect that I will give all I have in every minute and I will not disappoint."
Canaries manager Alex Neil said: "Ivo has had Champions League experience this season, playing against Arsenal and Bayern Munich where he did very well.
"He's a Portugal U21 international and at only 26 has his best years ahead of him. He is an athletic and good defender and will bring us options at the back.
"We have done our homework on him, we have covered all the bases and we are hoping he is going to come in and have a real impact.
"He is the perfect age and he has still got his best years ahead of him so he ticks all the boxes."
