York City have finally completed the signing of Brazilian striker Rogerio Carvalho - and more South American talent could be on its way to Bootham Crescent.

City's bid to capture 6ft 3ins powerhouse Rogerio had been hampered by red tape as the club waited to receive international clearance.

But the 22-year-old will now pull on the City shirt for tomorrow's reserve team Avon Insurance League against Darlington at Bootham Crescent tomorrow.

"Rogerio is now officially a City player," boss Terry Dolan told the Evening Press. "We got clearance today for him and he will now play tomorrow for the reserves.

"I'm pleased to finally get it sorted out. He has been training for long enough with us and now needs to play some games."

Rogerio, who will have the squad number 25, has managed just two pre-season games so far, appearing in the 2-0 defeat by Middlesbrough and scoring in the victory over Gainsborough Trinity.

Rogerio's signing - he has become the first Brazilian to join the Minstermen - will be celebrated by the production of special Brazil-style York City shirts.

But City's dip into the pool of South American talent will not finish at Rogerio with the club poised for further raids.

Chairman John Batchelor, who hopes the combination of Latin flair, free-scoring players and table-topping results will see the crowds flood back to Bootham, revealed: "We haven't finished yet. We are looking at any number of South Americans that we could bring across.

"We have built up a number of contacts over the past few months and they are working with us over this.

"We have to see how things progress before the transfer window but all things are possible. We are always looking to strengthen the side."

Batchelor believes the addition of Rogerio is an indication of his ambitions for City.

"We are taking a risk in signing players like this, but we are ambitious," he said. "We are playing attractive and exciting football, so hopefully people we come down and watch. We need to be close to crowds of 5,000 or 6,000.

"It is worth people just coming along to give us a chance. When was the last time York had a Brazilian up front, were top of the league and scoring goals for fun?

"I don't care how many goals we concede, as long as we are scoring more than anyone else."

Batchelor is even willing to cut down the away ticket allocation and make half the Grovesnor Road end available for City fans - if the support for the Minstermen was there.

"It would be great if we could cut the number of away tickets to fit in home fans," he said. "We could do it by putting a barrier down the middle and just giving away fans 1,000 tickets."

Updated: 14:34 Tuesday, August 20, 2002