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Ian Evatt feels he has landed a “good one” in Derry City defender Eoin Toal.
The 23-year-old, who has represented Northern Ireland at every youth level, has joined the club for an undisclosed fee.
Centre-back Toal has signed a three-year deal at the University of Bolton Stadium to provide competition for the likes of Ricardo Santos, Will Aimson, Gethin Jones, Jack Ireldale and George Johnston.
With more than 150 senior appearances under his belt and a handful of games in Europe among them, Toal has been part of a successful Derry side in recent years – and one that sits second in the League of Ireland table.
Evatt believes he has the right skillset to be a success at Wanderers, and in English football in general.
“It’s been well documented how in-depth we are with our recruitment process and how we identity position specifics in players and if their attributes fit how we want them to play,” said the Wanderers’ boss.
“Eoin ticks all of those boxes. He’s a young player with a huge amount of experience – albeit in a different division; captain of a top-division team in Ireland, who has played European football and who has vast attributes we feel we can improve on.
“We know he’s got good versatility and as coaches we feel we can still improve him and he will get time to settle.
“There’s no pressure on him to hit the ground running. It’s really a bigger project for us but we’re delighted to get it done and we think we’ve got a good one.”
Toal becomes the 20th player in the Bolton Wanderers squad who would count over the 25-man cap, leaving scope for more signings should Evatt wish to do so.
The Bolton boss also believes it is crucial that the club has managed to retain all its players from last season.
“The most important thing is we’ve kept all our assets,” he said.
“That’s a huge positive and we’ve added some quality around what we did in January, which was important.
“We feel like we’re in a really good place.”
Toal made 155 appearances for Derry, scoring six goals, having been made the club’s youngest-ever captain in 2019.
Manager Ruaidhri Higgins wished the youngster luck as he started a new chapter in his football career.
“On behalf of the management, players and staff at Derry City I want to put on record our thanks to Eoin for his service to the club” he told the club's website.
“He has been an absolute pleasure to work with both as a player and a captain.”
“I want to wish him every success at his new club and in his career going forward.”
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