OFFICIAL - Kyle Dempsey signs

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We're delighted to announce the signing of Kyle Dempsey from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Wanderers made it a magnificent seven as they beat the transfer deadline to complete the signing of midfield general Kyle Dempsey.

Dempsey had been a leading target for Whites’ boss Ian Evatt throughout January.

And Evatt has got his man with Dempsey signing a two-and-a-half-year-contract after arriving from Gillingham for an undisclosed fee.

The 26-year-old becomes Wanderers’ seventh signing of a highly productive transfer window and is the final piece in the January jigsaw for Evatt, whose new-look side made it three wins in a row with Saturday’s stadium-record 6-0 win over Sunderland.

“It’s another excellent signing for us and one we wanted to get over the line,” said Evatt, who has also extended the loan stay of winger Xav Amaechi since the turn of the year.

“Again, I’m grateful to Sharon and the board for allowing this to happen and it completes an excellent window for us.

“The intention is always to finish the window stronger than we started and that’s definitely the case again this time.

“Kyle is another key addition who will be a great fit on and off the pitch, with the right kind of leadership qualities, and as a quality midfield player who will really add to that department.”

Technically adept, Dempsey will bring some added steel, energy and a raft of experience at Championship and League One level as a powerful central midfield player to Wanderers.

The Whitehaven-born schemer started his career in his home county with Carlisle United.

After being named the Cumbrians’ player-of-the-year in 2014/15 he secured a move to the Championship for a two-year stay with Huddersfield Town.

That preceded a switch to Fleetwood Town, initially on loan, to play more regular first-team football and Dempsey racked up 144 appearances for the Cods, wrapped around a loan spell at Peterborough United.

Gillingham then swooped to take Dempsey to the Priestfield Stadium in August, 2020 and installed him as skipper.

He responded with eight League One goals as one of the division’s top performers as the Gills secured a top-10 finish last season.

His final goal for the Kent club came in a 2-2 draw at the University of Bolton Stadium in October.

And Dempsey now joins Wanderers as they further strengthen and look to continue their climb up the table.

Dempsey will wear squad number 32 but is not eligible to face Cambridge United at the University of Bolton Stadium on Tuesday night.

Good sign of character that he took the time to thank Gillingham and wish them well as per MEN article.