Director of football Jez George added: “Ivan was flagged up through our data modelling more than six months ago and since then we have watched him extensively. After selling Ethan Erhahon, we further assessed his availability and affordability in this window, two key criteria in any transfer, as well as his desire to play in England. With those boxes ticked, we escalated the evaluation process and entered negotiations with Slovan Liberec and the player’s agent to secure a deal.
“Ivan is a player who is ready to contribute now, albeit we need to give him time to settle in a new country, with the attributes to succeed in England and huge potential to be a future asset.
“I would like to thank both of his representatives, Antoni Lukasiewicz and Pawel Hajduczek, for their help in the process and Theodor Gebre Selassie, sporting director of Slovan Liberec, for the way in which the negotiations were conducted. Slovan Liberec are a good club who develop young players and Ivan is an example of that, having joined them at 18-years-old.”