Reign Sign Danish Attacker Katrine Veje, Joins in July

The Reign have announced the signing of Danish attacker Katrine Veje today. The 23-year-old Dane has 53 caps and 5 goals for Denmark and currently plays for club side Brøndby. She's described variously as a forward or a midfielder, so we can assume she'll settle into Harvey's flexible attacking wing role. That should be confirmation that Naho will not be returning next season, as Veje will be taking up both her role and her international spot. NWSL teams are limited to three internationals on the roster (Update: Seany91 reminds me that the international limit was temporarily increased to 4 this season, which would theoretically open the door to Naho coming back after the World Cup. But I wouldn't bet on it.)

Veje made her club debut at 16 for Odense in Sweden and went on to play for Melmo and now Brøndby, which she joined last season. She also started and scored for the Denmark team that beat the US 5-3 in the Algarve Cup last season, the result that preceded the firing of US head coach Tom Sermanni.

With Veje the team gets another international with the advantage of not playing in the World Cup this summer. Joining in July, she won't be able to play through much (if any) of the Cup, but fatigue will be a factor for the returning internationals and Veje should be well rested.

Here's Harvey's thoughts on the player (sent out via Twitter):

I have had my eye on Katrine for many years, having first seen her when I was an assistant coach with the U17 England squad. We played Denmark in the Euros and Katrine, who was probably 15 or 16 at the time, had a remarkable game and showed great promise. Since then I have followed her career closely. We believe she is capable of bringing something special to our club and to the NWSL.

Veje joins a front line with Megan Rapinoe, Sydney Leroux, and Bev Goebel, which will be one of the best in the league when fully assembled but will need additional reinforcements in the first half of the season before Veje arrives and with the US internationals away for World Cup preparations and the tournament itself.