NEW signing Adriano Moké will help York City manager Gary Mills in his bid to entertain the Bootham Crescent crowd next season.

Moké, 21, has agreed a one-year deal with the Minstermen after spending last season at the Glenn Hoddle Academy where he played for Jerez Industrial in the fourth tier of the Spanish game.

The Portuguese midfielder was previously on the books at Manchester United before playing for Leeds United under-16s and then taking up a youth-team scholarship with Nottingham Forest, who released him last summer.

Having left Portugal at the age of six to move to Leeds, Moké will be returning to familiar surroundings in Yorkshire and Mills is delighted to have secured his signature after fending off interest from the likes of Northampton Town and Yeovil.

The City chief said: “Adriano will excite people. I’m not putting pressure on him by saying that – it’s just the type of player he is.

“As soon as he gets on the ball, he will make things happen. He can open teams up and go past players but, with that, he also has the necessary work ethic I need for the way I want my team to play.

“I can’t wait for the fans to see Adriano play. He’s 21 and has grown up at Nottingham Forest and over in Spain. Now he needs to show what he’s all about.”

Mills added he feels Moké, along with fellow former Old Trafford schoolboy Michael Potts, who was signed from Blackburn this week, will facilitate the manager’s desire to adopt the playing ethos of European champions Barcelona.

The City boss said: “For whatever reasons, players’ careers take different paths but, now Adriano and Michael are here at York, it excites me to have them. They are skilful with a great desire for the game.

“They will be playing in the Blue Square Bet Premier next season but they have the ability to play a lot higher and, while our first priority is to win games and get promoted, I also want to entertain.

“People pay their money and I want to get them excited. You need talent to do that but you also need players who work hard.

“Barcelona are the greatest example of that. They have a fantastic side but nobody works harder than they do.

“We have signed some good, young, hungry players who will be part of what we want to achieve next season and I believe we now have a good mixture of age groups to work with.”

Mills was also pleased to have beaten off the challenges of higher division clubs to sign Moké.

Added Mills: “League clubs like Northampton and Yeovil were interested in him but it’s nice he has come here because he understands how we want to play the game and that suits him.”

Moké said: “I’ve signed for a club that want to go forward and I want to be part of that. I have friends who play football at this level and they have told me it’s a really good standard that I should try it out and I’m excited about the prospect of getting started.

“It’s great to get back into football in this country and my ambition is to get York City back into the Football League. I’d also like to thank the manager for giving me this opportunity and I’m hoping to repay him.”

Moké went on to praise the part former Tottenham legend Hoddle played in relaunching his career at the academy, designed to provide a second chance for promising young players.

“Glenn Hoddle told me he was impressed by me when I went to a trial in Leicester and said that he felt I still had a chance of playing professional football,” said Moké. “I learned a lot from him – not just the football side but off the pitch as well.

“He’s helped me mature as a player and a person. As well as him, I’ve also learned a lot from the other coaches like Graham Rix, Nigel Spackman and Dave Beasant.

“You are working alongside other players who are hungry to get back into the game.”