Fulham have this afternoon confirmed the signing of promising young striker Kieron Bowie from Raith Rovers.

The seventeen year-old will remain with the Scottish League One side, for whom he has scored ten goals in 29 appearances this term, until the end of the current campaign. Bowie, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise having been playing playing youth football with Glenrothes Strollers eighteen months, had been targeted by a number of leading Scottish and English sides, who sent scouts to watch as he scored twice in a 4-3 win over Montrose last month.

Bowie was delighted to have his big move confirmed, but also paid tribute to the work put in by Raith in furthering his development:

The last year or so has been a whirlwind and dream to play and score in the first team. To now get the chance to join a club the size of Fulham is really exciting and a great opportunity to help progress my career.

I will be forever grateful for the chance the management team have given me, so it was really important for me to finish the season with Raith. Hopefully I can repay this by helping them win the league. I’m looking forward to joining Fulham for preseason and getting started.

Fulham’s academy director Huw Jennings added:

We are delighted that Kieron will be joining Fulham in July. We were aware that a significant number of clubs were tracking him, and we moved very quickly last week to secure his services. Kieron is an exciting prospect, he is a commanding central striker for his age, he has an eye for goal and knows how to lead the line. He has an excellent temperament and is ideally suited to the Fulham way.

We are indebted to Raith Rovers for their support in enabling Kieron and his family to visit our Motspur Park training ground last Friday to help confirm the deal for July. We will work closely with John McGlynn and his team of staff at Raith Rovers during the remainder of the season where Kieron will hopefully be able to help the club secure promotion to the SPFL Championship.