Cod Army capture Frenchman
Fleetwood Town have captured the loan signing of striker Mikael Mandron from Barclays Premier League side Sunderland until the end of the 2013/14 season.
The 19-year-old has appeared twice for the Black Cats’ first team, making his debut from the bench against Aston Villa in April before coming on against Tottenham Hotspur in their final fixture last season.
Mandron, a six-feet three-inch centre forward, was also called up to the Scotland under-20 squad in May and has been scoring goals consistently for Sunderland’s academy – netting 12 goals in 13 games for the under-18s last season.
His performances earned him promotion to the development squad at the Stadium of Light although, for the time being, his focus will be on forcing his way into Graham Alexander’s starting line-up.
“I’m very excited to be here (at Fleetwood) and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” he said.
“I’m also really excited to discover football in the Football League and hopefully to be able to play first-team football.”
The French-born striker has been part of the Sunderland side that sit third in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League table this season, with Mandron scoring seven goals along the way including a hat-trick at Arsenal.
“We (Sunderland) had a really good start and there has only been the odd defeat while we’ve won most of our games,” said Mandron.
“We were top of the league for a while and it’s been going really well, and I’ll be looking to score goals here at Fleetwood.”
“Last season I was lucky to make my debut (for Sunderland) in the Premier League, and I came on another time against Tottenham for the last game of the season.
“I’m a centre forward, so my job is to score goals. I’m quite tall so I see myself as a target.
“I often play down the middle as high as I can, and I like to hold the ball up and bring other people into play.”
“I’ll give my best here and work as hard as possible to hopefully get in the team.”
Town manager Graham Alexander revealed he had been tracking the Frenchman for some time.
“We’ve worked to bring Mikael in from Sunderland. He’s a lad we’ve watched on numerous occasions all season.
“Jama (Jamille Matt – ankle) remains injured and I felt it was right to further strengthen the squad. Mikael is a very good young player who has been around the first team squad and carried on his goal scoring for the under 21s this season. He’s a very good addition to the squad.”
Mandron was allocated the number 18 first team shirt at Sunderland this season and will be available this Saturday when Town travel to Dagenham & Redbridge.