Hibernian announce signing of forward Élie Youan from St Gallen

Hibernian have completed the signing of St Gallen forward Élie Youan on loan with manager Lee Johnson saying the club have beaten a number of other teams to his signature.

The 23-year-old forward scored seven goals in 24 appearances last year and time at Mechelen and Nantes on his CV.

The former France Under-20 striker will spend the season on loan at Easter Road but Hibs have an option to buy and Johnson believes the club have made a valuable addition to their squad.

“We are excited to welcome Élie to Hibs and we are glad he chose us out of numerous clubs who were interested in him,” the Hibs manager told the club website.

“Élie is a very versatile forward player with excellent speed and dynamism.

“His attributes will enable us to stretch the game and allow us to open up space for our technically-gifted midfield players.”

Head of recruitment Ian Gordon added: “We are excited to add a player of Youan’s ability to our squad. He has proven he can score goals across different European leagues and we are confident that he will continue to succeed in Scotland.

“Both his pace and his natural goal-scoring ability impressed us and he will give us another option to use in the forward areas.”