Crusaders have unveiled their first signing of the summer in striker Dean Ebbe from Welsh club The New Saints.

The 27-year-old arrives at Seaview after spending part of last season on loan with another Welsh club Bala Town for whom he scored eight goals in 11 league outings.

Born in Dublin, Ebbe's early career brought him to Shamrock Rovers, Longford Town and Athlone Town amongst others, and then a spell with Inverness Caledonian Thistle before making the switch south.

Crues boss Stephen Baxter is looking forward to starting to work with his latest acquisition.

"We are obviously delighted that Dean has chosen to come to our football club. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes with agents and conversations with the player," he told the official club website.

"Dean only arrived a few days ago to see us from Dublin but he has been across the water the last few years and plied his trade in the Welsh League, scored a lot of goals with TNS and then with Bala Town so he comes with a proven goal scoring record, has bagged a lot of goals and played a lot of high quality games at a professional level for a while.

"Dean is a real athlete, scored some cracking goals, scored a lot of European goals for TNS and got them through a few rounds so he comes with a high pedigree and we are really looking forward to seeing him play and we are looking forward to getting him out on the football pitch and seeing him play and perform.

"He had a host of opportunities to play for other clubs but he has chosen to come to our club so we are delighted to get it over the line."