Glentoran have announced the signing of Rhys Marshall from Shamrock Rovers.
Former Glenavon defender Marshall has agreed a three-and-a-half-year full-time professional contract with the East Belfast club.
Marshall made 13 appearances for Shamrock Rovers last season as the Tallaght club won the Airtricity League Premier Division title.
The 25-year-old played over 200 league games for Glenavon during a seven-year spell at Mourneview Park, helping the club win the Irish Cup in 2014 and 2016.
“This is a great signing for Glentoran," Glens head coach Mick McDermott told Glentoran's official website.
"Paul Millar worked very closely with him throughout his carer at Glenavon and Gary Hamilton is on record as saying Rhys is the best player he has every played with.
"Given Gary’s career, praise doesn’t come any higher than that.
"Also Rhys was clear from the start that he didn’t want to get involved in speculation or a bidding war as he was only interested in joining us at Glentoran. His enthusiasm for what we are doing here was evident from the first minute we spoke to him.
"I know there is an expectation of immediate success at our club, but Rhys is typical of the sort of player we want here – young, highly talented, highly professional and completely committed to the major project here to take this club right back to the top of Irish football and – even more importantly – keep it there.
"We want the best possible young players at the Oval as we continue with our project.
"The lads we’ve signed in recent months and the contracts we’ve extended demonstrate clearly what strategy we have in place.
"Rhys is the latest very exciting addition to what will be the best squad in Ireland, north or south.”
