Celtic sign Luca Connell from Bolton Wanderers on four-year deal

He told his new club’s official website: “It is unbelievable to sign for such a massive club, known all around the world.”

Connell was born in Liverpool but qualifies to play for Ireland through his grandparents.

He will now link up with his new team-mates on their pre-season tour of Austria.

“It’s crazy. It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m signing for such a big club and with this much history, hopefully I can crack on and help us make more,” he added.

“I’m confident and I feel I can talk to anyone, it’s in the Scouse nature to be outgoing. I’m looking forward to all the league games and especially the Champions League.”

A spokesperson for Bolton’s joint administrator said the club had sought legal advice over the move, but that a “discrepancy” in the transfer rules between England and Scotland meant there was nothing they could do to prevent it.

“We took legal advice once Luca submitted his notice of termination,” the Wanderers statement read.

“However, the discrepancy in the regulations between England and Scotland meant we had no option but to accept the situation.

“To their credit, Celtic recognised that and have agreed to pay substantially more than the financial obligations in Luca’s contract.”

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By PA Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'acd61fb7-91bb-4504-84e2-c0d253df82e1');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Celtic sign promising young star Luca Connell'});