We are delighted to announce the signing of USA international goalkeeper Ethan Horvath on a season-long loan from Nottingham Forest.
The 27-year-old’s early football days were spent with Real Colorado in his home country, before moving to Norway and Tippeligaen club Molde to sign his first professional contract in 2013, having been recruited by former Manchester United player and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Horvath made his professional debut in May 2015 and was number one the season after following Orjan Nyland’s departure. He went on to make 56 appearances before he moved to the Belgian League with Club Brugge in 2017.
In the 2018/19 season he made three appearances in the Champions League and kept clean sheets against Monaco, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid, before also starring in the Europa League.
Horvath won three league titles during his time in Belgium and left on a free transfer to join Nottingham Forest last summer.
The keeper has eight caps for his country, and has his sights set on securing his place in the American squad for the World Cup later this year.
“It was a long journey to get the job done but I’m really happy to be here,” said Horvath after completing his medical at The Brache yesterday. “It has been a fantastic day so far. The people have been really nice, the club has a real family feel to it, which I like. There are good people in the business and you want good people to help you succeed.”
The American spent most of last season as understudy to Brice Samba at the City Ground, but made 11 appearances in total – including six in the Championship, an FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool and a late substitute role in the play-off final victory against Huddersfield at Wembley.
“It was a whirlwind season at Forest, from the first eight games to have one point or whatever it was, to then getting promoted – I couldn’t be happier for the boys,” he added.
“It was a really long season and they got their reward in the end, but at the end of the day I needed to look myself in the mirror and the number one priority was playing time, and Luton were quick to come into the picture. Both parties worked really, really hard to get it done and I can’t wait to get started.”
Manager Nathan Jones said: “We’re delighted to add Ethan. He is a fantastic goalkeeper. I was really impressed with him in terms of what he’s done. We were aware of him, then he went to Forest and he did well in the limited amount of time he had to play.
“He’s someone that showed a real desire to want to play for us. That was the good thing. I loved his character and knew all about his ability, and then he had a real desire to get this done. That’s what we want here.
“People that really want to play for us, do well here and he was desperate to come. He wanted to be part of something and he’s a great character.
“He's played in the Champions League and he’s international looking to go to the World Cup, so he has fantastic pedigree and we wanted to increase or significantly improve the goalkeeping department this summer.
“James Shea is injured at the minute, but in Ethan, Matt and Harry, we now have three goalkeepers who we know can play Championship football. That is excellent because we don’t want to be in the position we were in again last year.
“That is the conscious decision we’ve made, and I thank Gary and the board for backing us and letting us be able to do that. We’re in a real good place.”
