Soca Warrior Andre Raymond signs for Scottish club St Johnstone FC

Trinidad and Tobago defender Andre Raymond has signed a two-year deal with St Johnstone FC in the Scottish top flight.

The club made the announcement via its website on July 16.

Raymond, 23, moves to McDiarmid Park on a deal until the summer of 2026 and arrives after a spell in Portugal with Vilar de Perdizes.

Raymond has nine senior team caps for TT and was recommended to St Johnstone by countryman and former St Johnstone player Dan Phillips.

A club statement said Raymond has been training with the squad “for some time now” and is excited to get to work in the Premier Sports Cup, with matches against Morton, Alloa and East Fife to come.

On his new signing, Raymond said, “I am very grateful. Firstly I am thankful to God, I am thankful to my family, my coaches and my peers who always believed in me.”

He wants to use this move as a stepping stone to learn and continue being a student of the game.

“I always took an interest in St Johnstone when I knew my international teammate Dan Phillips was playing at the club. He contacted me and he mentioned that the coach was really interested in me and he liked me a lot.”

From then on, Raymond continued to watch the club’s games, and study its style of play and atmosphere among fans, which he hailed as “really great.”

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein was delighted to bring Raymond in and bolster their defensive options.

“Andre was a recommendation of our former player Dan Phillips, and we are excited to work with him going forward. Andre’s pace and power will be useful attributes both in defence and attack.”