Sparta bring in Pekhart and Keric

AC Sparta Praha have brought in attacking duo Tomáš Pekhart and Andrej Keric to help fill the void created by Wilfried Bony's expected switch to Dutch side Vitesse.

Pekhart, the nine-goal leading scorer in the qualifying campaign for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, has arrived on loan from FK Jablonec. The 21-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur FC and SK Slavia Praha player was in impressive league form before the winter break, scoring 11 goals in 15 games to help Jablonec to fourth place.

"It's a great challenge for me to fight for the Czech title," said Pekhart, who will not join on a permanent basis in the summer as Jablonec hope to secure a lucrative deal after the U21 finals. Meanwhile, Croatian international Keric comes in from FC Slovan Liberec for a reduced fee of €100,000 as he was out of contact in the summer. The 24-year-old will have a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Sparta have also recruited Ondřej Švejdík from FC Groningen and fellow defender Tomáš Zápotočný from Beşiktaş JK this month as they gear up for their UEFA Europa League round of 32 meeting with Liverpool FC. Two of the key performers in their run to the knockout stages are moving on, with Ivorian forward Bony set to sign for Vitesse and Slovakia midfielder Juraj Kucka having gone to Genoa CFC.