Victory sign teenage wonderkid!
Private jets and adjoining hotel rooms - how Dark Victory wrapped up Enrikos Balleri transfer.

Throughout the month there was a suggestion from the club that a player plying his trade on the continent was one target they felt would excite fans.  In the middle of last week, there was a feeling that the European-based defender might be the one they could pull off. Yet even when his name emerged in the media, outlets in Spain reported with a great deal of confidence that a deal for Balleri was done and the man himself started liking Victory supporters' tweets, sending fan expectancy through the roof.

Dark Victory kept schtum, determined not to count any chickens, particularly with foxes in the form of Matchstick Men and other top-flight outfits on the prowl.

Victory went to extreme lengths to keep it under wraps, too. Balleri was flown in, on a private jet late on Friday night, landing on the Multiflight private runway at the back of the Leeds Bradford airport. He was driven to the Doubletree by Hilton, whisked through a side door and when he got up on Saturday morning, walked into an adjoining room the club had booked out, cleared out and transformed into a mobile medical facility.

Dark Victory's head of medicine and performance gave the 17-year-old his medical and then it was off to The Ashes to sign on the dotted line and pose for pictures, black shirt on, fist on heart.

Balleri is expected to be on the bench for Tuesday's match at home to Bonehunters.

2020-02-11 00:12 4875 Views Reporter: TonyBrazil

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