Chris Coleman believes American striker Brian McBride will be a real handful in the Premiership as Fulham look towards life without Louis Saha.
Frenchman Saha's goals have helped fire Fulham into European reckoning this season, and his imminent departure to Manchester United, for a fee believed to be around £12million, had left manager Coleman with just Barry Hayles and Facundo Sava up front.
Neither player is in the same class as Saha - who has bagged 15 goals so far this season - forcing the Cottagers to dip into the transfer market to find a suitable replacement.
McBride has scored 20 times in an international career spanning 67 caps and boasts Premiership experience following a two-month loan spell at Everton last season.
The 31-year-old Columbus Crew forward will join the club for an undisclosed fee until the summer of 2006, pending approval for a work permit and a successful medical.
And Coleman declared: "Brian is a great talent who can combine assisting attacking play with getting his fair share of goals. He has superb aerial ability and has already proved he can perform each week at the highest level. His experience of the Premiership will also prove a valuable asset in the coming months."
The Illinois-born forward has represented his country in two World Cups, helping the United States reach the quarter-finals in 2002, and was nominated for the Major League Soccer player of the year award last year.
McBride is not the first American international to have been signed by Coleman in the January transfer window, following Carlos Bocanegra's arrival from the Chicago Fire early last week.
Bocanegra made his debut during the 3-1 defeat at Newcastle on Monday night, but it was an evening to forget as Coleman highlighted sloppy defending as the reason for a result which takes Fulham's woeful away form to five defeats in six matches.
The arrival of West Ham centre-back Ian Pearce has given Coleman more resources to play with after the 29-year-old completed his switch across London yesterday, agreeing a three-and-a-half year deal with the Cottagers.
Fulham have approved a player-plus-cash package for Pearce which has seen Wales veteran Andy Melville move in the opposite direction - he featured in West Ham's 3-3 draw at Sheffield United on Saturday.
Melville's initial stint at Upton Park is on a month-long loan basis. But once that expires the transfer will be made permanent, while Jon Harley is scheduled to stay with Alan Pardew's side for just one month.