Burnley have announced their first signing in the January transfer window and he certainly has a backstory.
On the surface you may not know Oliver Sonne, but he is ready to fight and get the Clarets back to the Premier League.
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The club is currently third in the Championship and firmly in the hunt for promotion.
And the addition of Sonne – a Peru international – should strengthen their squad for the second half of the season.
The 24-year-old played for Danish Superliga club Silkeborg and made over 100 appearances for the club.
And although he was born in Heraufnahme, Denmark, he recently served on duty for his South American country.
There, Sonne faced his toughest opponent and lost 0-1 to an Argentine team with Lionel Messi.
Messi assisted Lautaro Martinez in the qualifier for the 2026 World Cup.
The new Burnley star said: “I have to go with Messi, I met him a few weeks ago when we played Argentina and yeah, he’s just the main star.”
“The way he sees the game, he’s so technical and you can’t get the ball away from him.”
“Even though he’s getting older and doesn’t have the same strength, his vision for the game is phenomenal.”
Sonne is climbing the rankings, but also has an alternative career to fall back on.
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The versatile player – nephew of world-famous supermodel Helena Christensen – has modeled for Gucci and Armani.
He told BT in 2020: “It started on my aunt’s birthday. Some of their agents had their eye on me for a while when I was younger. And then when I turned 16 and started growing, my face and body started to develop,” they asked if I had thought about modeling.
“Then I went to some interviews with them, tried to take some pictures and sent them off. And then it happened really quickly from there.”
And Sonne admitted he occasionally had heartache about his part-time job, adding: “Of course. There are also comments. That’s what happens. Sometimes you get put in weird clothes for shows and stuff, and of course they find out.” on Instagram and comment on it. But I take that into account.
“They ask about it too. I had a period where I did it a lot and I did some really cool things abroad with some of the top brands that us young people buy for a lot of money. So it was a lot of fun.” I try to be on that side. Of course they ask about it, along with some of the experiences I’ve had.
Sonne can hardly wait to get started at Burnley and revealed the “aura” around head coach Scott Parker that he felt from the first moment: “I’m super excited! Being here and experiencing the club and facilities – it’s overwhelming!
“There are many reasons why I joined this football club. The most important thing is that it is a huge club with big ambitions.
“The manager is great. He has this aura around him and you can easily tell he’s a really nice guy and made a really good first impression.
“I see an environment here in which I can develop as a person and a player and spend some really good years being one of the main players in the squad, scoring goals and getting assists.
“The goal is to get promoted back to the Premier League and I will fight to make that happen.”