The famous \
It's now officially official that Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears have signed for Bolton Wanderers in a deal worth around £2.75 million for the pair. It's common knowledge that the pair both played under Owen Coyle in his time at Burnley but each of their histories are much more extensive.
With that, we give you the opportunity to learn a little more about Chris Eagles.
Eagles was brought up in the Watford youth system before being snapped up by Manchester United. Though a promising youngster, Eagles never had the opportunity to break through to the first team, making only one or two appearances a season and rarely in the Premier League. Most of his Manchester United run-outs were limited to the FA Cup, Carling Cup, and friendlies. While under contract at United, Eagles spent time on loan at Watford, Sheffield Wednesday, and NEC Nijmegen of the Dutch Eredivisie.
After his unsuccessful stint at United, Chris was snapped up by Owen Coyle at Burnley, then in the Championship. His efforts propelled the clarets to the Premiership as in his first season, he made 57 appearances in all competitions with 7 goals and 11 assists. In their upcoming season in the Premier League, Eagles had a quieter year with 48 appearqnces, 3 goals, and 4 assists. Despite the lower numbers, he was consistently linked with a number of different teams with Burnley even agreeing to sell him to Rangers but the player and Scottish side couldn't agree to personal terms. In his last and final year with Burnley, Eagles had himself a phenomenal year. He appeared 48 times and scored 15 times with 10 assists.
Eagles has the ability to play as an attacking midfielder, a forward, or a winger. This makes him very versatile in the Bolton setup and can certainly act as cover for a number of our players should they get injured.