Rijks signs on loan

Forest Green Rovers are delighted to announce the signing of Mees Rijks from Bristol Rovers on a three-month loan deal.

The young Dutch striker joins Robbie Savage's side as the gaffer looks to bolster his forward options after Ricardo Rees sustained a long-term knee injury and D'Mani Mellor and Kairo Mitchell received international call-ups.

Born in Amstelveen in March 2003, Rijks played as a youngster with FC Abcoude and Amsterdamsche FC before signing up at the FC Utrecht academy. The attacker earned his senior debut as a substitute in the Eredivisie, featuring against PSV Eindhoven in March 2022.

Rijks' most prolific goal-scoring period came for Utrecht U21s between 2021 and 2024, where the Dutch forward scored 20 goals in 92 appearances in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie.

He then moved to first-tier Norwegian side Vålerenga, scoring 16 goals and assisting four in 47 appearances during his time with the Norwegian side.

Rijks joined 'The Gas' in the January transfer window from Vålerenga for an undisclosed fee, and would go on to make 15 appearances in all competitions for Bristol Rovers, scoring two goals in the process.

Manager Robbie Savage had this to say about the signing of Mees:

"Delighted to have Mees here. We've had to move very, very quickly, and Bristol Rovers have facilitated it; Steve (Evans) has helped us massively. The boy is desperate to come and play games.

"When we saw him during the bounce games, we thought, yes, he would be great for us. He comes straight into the squad for us tomorrow if the paperwork is done in time. He'll be a great asset for us!"

Join us in wishing Mees a very warm welcome to The New Lawn!

To sponsor Mees, please get in contact with partnerships@fgr.co.uk.