Elgin City sign former Inverness Caley Thistle midfielder Lewis Hyde on a two-year deal
Elgin City have signed a midfielder with almost 50 appearances for Caley Thistle under his belt.
Lewis Hyde (21) has penned a two-year deal with the Borough Briggs club after impressing in a trial period.
“We’ve been really impressed with him in pre-season so far,” said City manager Allan hale.
“He’s a player who is excellent on the ball. He needs to get fitter which is where we need to work on him but he has a great attitude as well and he has turned down significantly better financial offers within the Highland League to come to Elgin, which speaks volumes about what he is all about.
“He’s someone who wants to take the ball off the centre half and try to control possession. The attraction with Lewis is he can play as a (number) six or an eight, he can sit if he needs to sit and be that screen, or he can go box-to-box, he is quite prepared to do that.
“It’s good to have that versatility where he can do a couple of different roles. It was important for me to have that.”
Hyde debuted for Caley Thistle in a Challenge Cup tie against Morton in 2019, and featured in a League Cup clash against Hearts at Tynecastle while still a teenager.
He established himself as a regular in the ICT first team over the next two seasons, playing 13 times in 2021-22 including a 4-0 Challenge Cup success over Buckie Thistle.
The following season he made 31 appearances for his home town side, but was restricted to just three appearances last term.
He has had several loan spells in Highland league football with Fort William, Rothes twice and most recently Brora Rangers, who were understood to be keen to make a permanent move for him.
Hale says the player needs some match fitness and could feature in the Blac and Whites’ second friendly match of the summer tonight (Friday) against Inverurie Locos at Gleaner Arena.