Sligo Rovers leading goalscorer this season, Max Mata, has left the club to join English League One side Shrewsbury Town.
The transfer deal, understood to be worth six figures to Rovers, is a permanent move and was completed on Thursday to enable the Kiwi be part of the Shrewsbury squad for their opening league game of the new season against Cheltenham Town, provided British Home Office and visa clearances for Mata come through in time.
Our latest addition 😍
🔷🔶 #Salop pic.twitter.com/vc82W5y0Ne
— Shrewsbury Town FC (@shrewsburytown) August 3, 2023
The Shropshire club were managed by former Sligo Rovers boss Steve Cotterill until June of this year, when Matt Taylor took over.
It’s understood Taylor watched Mata in Drogheda during last Friday night’s league fixture.
Mata becomes the third Sligo Rovers striker to move on from the Showgrounds over the 20 months, following Johnny Kenny (Celtic) and Aidan Keena (Cheltenham) across the Irish sea.
The Kiwi has scored 12 goals across all competitions so far this season for Rovers.
He joined Rovers from US club Real Monarchs in February 2022.
Mata has seven senior international caps for New Zealand and had signed a contract extension with Rovers to keep him at the Showgrounds until the end of the 2024 season.
