SV Guntamatic Ried have confirmed midfielder Kingsley Michael will play for them this season after joining from Italian side Bologna.
The Austrian club have confirmed the 22-year-old Nigeria player has joined on a season-long loan deal.
"Kingsley Michael, who is under contract with Italian Serie A club FC Bologna, will play for SV Guntamatic Ried with immediate effect," the club confirmed on their official website.
"The 22-year-old Nigeria international, who made his Serie A debut at Bologna in 2019, has signed a loan deal for the current season."
Ried sporting director Thomas Reicheltshammer explained the reason the club signed the Super Eagle.
"Due to the injuries in the past few weeks, we had to take action, especially in central midfield," Reicheltshammer told the same portal, adding: "We deliberately took our time in our search to find a player who fits our requirements profile.
"We think we've found that type of player in Kingsley Michael. He is dynamic and aggressive in duels. It's a win-win situation for both Bologna and us. Kingsley Michael gets game practice with us, we get a very good player."
Michael is confident he'll help the team achieve their goals.
"I want to support SV Guntamatic Ried as much as possible, but also learn from the team," said Michael.
"The coach explained the project to me here in Ried and that goes very well with my understanding of football. My strength is that I press high and I can definitely help the team with that. I am also very familiar with Austria because I had a personal coach in Linz.”
Born in Owerri capital of Imo State in Nigeria, Michael left Abuja FC to sign for Bologna in 2017 and was assigned to the U19 team.
Michael moved to Serie B club Perugia on a season-long loan in 2018 and returned to Bologna in 2019 when he finally made his debut in Serie A against Verona on August 25 of that year.
He played for the Nigeria U17 team and made his debut for the Super Eagles on September 7, 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde.
