Rovers’ manager Paul Dickov has made Spanish midfielder Marc De Val Fernandez his first signing at the club.
Fernandez, a former Real Madrid player, joins up with Paul Dickov’s squad after seeing out his contract at previous club CD Olimpic De Xativa.
Fernandez, who is described as an aggressive defensive stopper with excellent ball retention and vision for the pass, has signed a two-year deal with Rovers.
Starting his football career as a youth team player at Espanyol, Fernandez went on to spend ten years at the La Liga club before moving to Spanish giants Real Madrid for a reported fee of around 4m Euros.
Fernandez represented the world famous Galacticos in the Cantera [academy] teams before moving on to CD Olimpic de Xativa in the Spanish equivalent to the Championship.
After one season at Xativa, Fernandez decided to make the move to England in a bid to further his career.
On signing Marc manager Paul Dickov told Rovers Player: “Marc is a player that I know really well. I nearly signed him two years ago when I was at Oldham; he had a year left on his contract at Madrid and we were told that we could get him in on a free but there was a training compensation that was going to be around £6-700,000, which showed how much they valued him.
“He left Madrid and played in what is the equivalent to the Championship in Spain last year. I’ve watched him quite a lot and his attitude is first class and he’s a top player.
“He started at Espanyol and Real Madrid signed him as a sixteen year old for a big fee; you don’t spend five years at Real Madrid if you’re not good enough.”