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Justin Amaluzor has swapped National South for Rangers and Celtic after leaving Maidstone to join Motherwell.
The out-of-contract winger has signed a one-year deal at Fir Park, with an option for a further season.
He’d been training with the Scottish Premiership club after Maidstone’s National South campaign was cut short by Covid.
He was known to Well manager Graham Alexander having impressed against his Salford team for Braintree and then Maidstone in the 2018/19 National League season.
Alexander invited him up for trials and liked what he saw, offering the winger a shot at top-flight football.
Motherwell’s opening game of the season, at home to Hibernian on August 1, is live on Sky Sports.
Matches against the Glasgow giants follow with Rangers away on September 18 and Celtic at home on October 16.
These are exciting times for Amaluzor, 24, who started pre-season training with his new club yesterday.
“I’m buzzing,” he said. “Motherwell were interested in me and I came up two or three months ago to train.
“I played in a couple of in-house games and scored a lot of goals, and the manager took me in and offered me a contract.
“Maidstone’s season was cut short because of Covid, so that gave me the chance to come up here.
“I played against Salford three times when Graham Alexander was the manager - once for Braintree, when we beat them, and twice for Maidstone.
“I did well against them, I was direct, and that’s the type of football he likes, which is probably why he remembered me.”
Motherwell have put Amaluzor up in an apartment near their training ground.
It’s a lot quieter than London but there will be plenty of noise in the stands to feed off when the season starts.
“It’s going to be good,” he said. “You know how many fans Rangers and Celtic and Hearts get.
“I don’t get nervous any more, I get excited.
“The more fans, the more excited I get, so I think I’ll handle it pretty well.
“We’ve got our first game of the season on telly, too, and I’m buzzing for that. I want to start that game, for sure.”
Motherwell fans may not be familiar with a player arriving from non-league football in England.
But they soon will be if he continues to shine on the training ground and forces his way into Alexander’s starting XI.
“We had our first day of pre-season on Monday and I was third out of about 30 people in the running,” said Amaluzor.
“I think the manager was proper shocked by that.
“He’s told me to keep my head down and, after pre-season, I can make my own luck.
“A lot of players left so it’s a fresh start for everyone.
“They’re decent lads here. I can’t lie, when I first came in, they made me welcome right away.
“Some London teams can make you feel awkward but it’s different here.
“I think it’s just the Scottish people, they’re proper nice.
“The chief exec said there were no cliques, which you’d expect him to say, but he was telling the truth.”
Amaluzor will be keeping an eye on Maidstone’s progress next season and is backing Hakan Hayrettin’s side for promotion.
He enjoyed his two-and-a-half years at the Gallagher, particularly his early days.
“Maidstone’s a big club,” said Amaluzor. “Hakan and John Still, and even Bill Williams, have helped me a lot.
“With the supporters, it gets you ready somewhat to step up because of the pressure to deliver there.
“They don’t deserve to be in National South but they have a strong team this year and I think they are going to get back up, although I don’t want to jinx it by saying that.
“I think when I first joined was my best spell.
“We got relegated but I was flying, I was a breath of fresh air.
“I scored a couple of very good goals at Harrogate and I scored against Gillingham in the cup and my old team, Barnet.
“That period was my favourite time.”
