Dion Charles has completed a January transfer from Accrington Stanley to Bolton Wanderers and put pen to paper on a deal until June 2025.
The striker has joined Wanderers for an undisclosed six-figure fee but is not registered in time to make his Bolton debut today against Rotherham United.
The 26-year-old's contract at fellow League One club Stanley was up in the summer but rather than wait until then to potentially sign Charles on a free, Wanderers have paid a fee to get him at the University of Bolton Stadium now.
READ MORE: Dion Charles has already told Bolton Wanderers what he will offer in exciting glimpse
In so doing, he has become the first player Bolton have paid a transfer fee for since the signing of Josh Magennis from Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2018.
Charles - who will wear the number 10 shirt at Wanderers - has scored 30 goals in 97 games for Stanley since joining the club in 2019, finding the back of the net 20 times for the East Lancashire side last term in a run of form which helped him to earn a call-up to Ian Baraclough's Northern Ireland set-up.
Charles was not being considered for selection by Stanley as he had not put pen to paper on a fresh deal at the club in a 'Mexican stand-off' as described by Accrington boss John Coleman.
The Stanley boss confirmed that Charles will be sold in the January transfer window, should an acceptable offer be made for the Northern Ireland international - which Wanderers subsequently have.
Ian Evatt had previously spoken of his admiration and awareness of Charles, who he is familiar with after the striker came through the youth ranks at Blackpool when the Wanderers boss was still a player.
And Evatt is delighted to get the deal over the line, saying: "Dion is a player I’ve been aware of for a long, long time.
“He dropped into non-league but has proved and fought and got his way back into the system and into League One and scored a hatful of goals for Accrington last season.
“He was touted to have some really big money moves which, fortunately for us, didn’t come off.
“We have managed to get him over the line and bring him in as one of the first players we’ve pai.d money for in a long time, which is a huge statement of where this club is right now and credit must go to the board, investors and Sharon and everyone who has played a part in that.
“We are excited to have him on board. Dion is a finisher, has terrific pace, terrific movement and relentlessly runs in behind and works defenders.
“He’s a player that we’re really looking forward to working with and seeing what the future holds.”
