Bolton Make First Summer Signing

1 July 2011, 10:29 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Swansea midfielder Darren Pratley has agreed a 4-year deal to become Bolton's first summer signing.

The 26-year-old made 199 appearances during a five-year spell with the Swans, his last being in the npower Championship Play-off final win over Reading at Wembley which secured promotion to the Barclays Premier League.

"We're delighted to have Darren here,'' Wanderers manager Owen Coyle said. "A number of clubs were interested in him and we are pleased to have secured his services.

Pratley admitted the decision to move to the Reebok Stadium was the biggest of his career.

"It was nice to leave Swansea on a high after gaining promotion to the Premier League and I'm now looking forward to showing the fans what I can do here,'' the 26-year-old said. "It was the biggest decision of my footballing career so far to leave Swansea. I enjoyed playing and living there and the club have been extremely good to me. It was always going to be a big decision for me regardless of whether Swansea got promoted or not. What's important to me is that I join Bolton as a Premier League player after that play-off final. I was delighted to have gained promotion with Swansea. I leave there wishing them well and I'd like to thank everyone there for supporting me. Now I'm really looking forward to Monday and getting into training and meeting the lads. The manager outlined some exciting plans and we had a good chat. I'm fully focused on playing well for Bolton. The fans can expect someone who always gives 100%. I like to get around the pitch and am a bit of a box-to-box player and hopefully I can chip in with a few goals. I managed to get 12 in my last season with Swansea. Hopefully I can continue to score goals from midfield at Bolton.''