Scottish Cup hero Elias Melkersen has been tipped to be a smash hit at Hibs by the Bodo Glimt skipper who sunk Celtic.
The 19-year-old frontman made a spectacular full debut with a deadly double in the 2-1 win at Motherwell on Sunday.
The Norwegian has had to bide his time at Easter Road following his £300,000 move from Bodo in January.
But the hard work in the background paid off as he gave Hibs the cutting edge Shaun Malone y has craved in recent weeks.
Gimt captain Ulrik Saltnes was not surprised to see the youngster make a huge impression on his first proper run out on the back of a couple of sub cameos.
Melkersen found it hard to break in to the top team with the Norwegian champs – who showed their strength when they dumped Celtic out of the Europa Conference League in A 5-1 aggregate win.
But Saltnes knows the kid is a player having watching the striker banging on the door since he was just 15.
Melkersen was born in Trondheim – a 12 hour drive south of Bodo.
But the attacker made the move north and bust a gut when he was thrown straight in to training with the senior side.
The teenager was viewed as a top prospect in the Arctic Circle and Glint were reluctant to let him go after seeing him rattle 18 goals on loan at Randheim last term.
But the chunky price tag and the prospect of playing regularly appealed to both parties – and it’s already paying off for Melkersen.
Saltnes said: “I hope he can have a big impact. He’s a fantastic professional. He came in to our first team when he was just 15 years-old.
“Obviously he struggled a bit in the beginning because he was so young, but he was incredibly hard working and dedicated to his football.
“He’s developed a lot. We sent him out on loan last season and he did far better than anyone expected. He scored a lot of goals.”
Saltnes would have loved Melkersen to have stuck around at Bodo but he was thrilled the ace has a big chance in Edinburgh and he is convinced he can go all the way to the top.
The midfielder said: “I was pleased he got his move to Hibs. It can be good for him as I don’t think he felt he’d get the minutes he wanted this season, so the club thought it was fair enough to let him go.
“I think he can go as far as he wants.”
Melkersen also got rave reviews from his former boss Kjetil Knutsen, who said: “He is an incredibly good finisher, and he trains very well. He runs a lot with high intensity during a match, with many sprints.
“He’s a player we had a lot of faith in.”
Meanwhile Hibs playmaker Joe Newell is thrilled to be heading back to Hampden – but he’s determined to go a step further this time.
The Englishman returned from a knee injury in Sunday’s Well win and he’s gearing up for his eighth trip to the national in just three seasons.
The Easter Road side made it six semis on the spin – and they’ve also been in two cup finals, including the Premier Sports Cup defeat to Celtic earlier this season.
Newell said: “I'm buzzing for it. This is my third season now and I've been to Hampden in every competition, so I can't really ask for too much more other than a trophy.
“I’m obviously over the moon as it was one of the targets we set at the start of the season. We’ve had a change in manager since then and when he came in, he made it clear how much he wants to go and win a cup. Now, we are one step closer.”
Newell was delighted to make a quick fire recovery after fearing he’d be out for more than a month.
He said: “I’ve just been itching to get out there.
“I’ve been watching the boys over the last few weeks and any professional will tell you they don’t like being injured, but I really don't like being injured!
“I've been itching to get back and luckily I’ve come back, and we got the win.
“The supporters are unreal, just unreal when they travel in their numbers like that, and they give you that vocal support; it really does feed onto the pitch.
