Hibs striker Etienne Barbara has agreed a move to the Carolina RailHawks. The club announced on its website that Barbara, 27, will remain with Hibs until the end of next month before flying to the United States to start his career with Carolina RailHawks, who play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) club.

"It never passed through my mind to play in America or that an opportunity could arise there," Barbara, who last season played for German lower-league club SC Verle, told www.carolinarail hawks.com.

"I couldn't actually believe it until I met coach Martin Rennie when he came to Malta. He immediately had that professional approach and he was serious about it. Then the offer started to look attractive.

"I had opportunities to go to play in Europe, but America is a place that I've never been to and the professional set-up and training facilities as Martin described them kept popping in my mind as a good challenge to look for. I'm looking forward to it."

Carolina manager Rennie admitted that he was impressed by Barbara's talent after watching the burly forward score in Hibs' 2-2 draw with Qormi in a league match last month.

"Etienne has played at a high level with the Maltese national team, facing some of the best players in the world," Rennie said.

"He was a player I didn't know too much about until a few months ago. I saw his videos and I was really impressed, and I spoke to some people who also spoke highly of him. I made the decision to go watch him play, and I was blown away by what he did.

"I'm hoping that will translate to our league, and I believe it will. He's got pace, power and he can finish and he's just an all-around player. He'll add a lot to our squad."

Barbara only joined Hibs last summer but he has a clause in his one-year contract allowing him to move if a foreign club offered him a deal.