SWINDON Town beat off competition from the likes of Benfica, West Ham, Tottenham and Stoke to sign Portugal Under 21 international Tijane.

The 22-year-old, full name Tijane Freitas Reis, spent last season with Chaves in the third tier of Portuguese football, and helped his club gain promotion which prompted interest from a number of top clubs.

Swindon have secured his services on a two-year deal with an option for a third, largely down to the fact they could guarantee the Guinea-Bissau born youngster first-team football rather than a prolonged spell in youth or reserve teams.

Tijane is a left-footed player who primarily plays on the right of midfield, and his representative Mickey Walsh insisted signing for Swindon is exactly the opportunity he has been looking for.

“He is naturally left-footed and has good pace and he likes to get past people and gets the ball in early, but he normally plays on the right and cuts in and joins in with the forwards,” he said.

“The opportunity to play in England is great and he feels this is the ideal opportunity to represent himself and help him and Swindon in the future.

“They have good people behind the scenes with good ambition and they want to play the right way.

“He is highly-rated and Benfica were looking to take him, but he would have ended up in the under 21 or development squad and that is not what he wants because he wants to be on the real stage and playing decent football.

“He also had an opportunity to join Estoril, who will be in the Europa League this year, but he didn’t want to go there either because a lot of their good players have gone to other clubs.

“Swindon came along and made a great offer and he is looking forward to getting going.”

Speaking through Walsh, Tijane said he is happy to have made the move to Swindon and is pleased to get the chance to show what he is capable of in English football.

“I have been looked after very well by the directors and I want to show and repay the faith the people have in me,” he said.

“This is a great place for me to play football, and I am looking forward to playing for the club.

“Moving to Portugal was hard for me, but moving from Portugal to England is not as difficult and I am looking forward to it.

“I like the English game and the way people press the ball and this is where I like to play my football.”