Debut: The French Prince (Désir Gouano) of Belmont

Bolton has a new number 2 in the form of 21 year old French defender Prince-Desir Gouano!

Prince started his career with French Ligue 2 club Le Havre before moving onto Juventus. His career at that little known Italian club never really got going and he failed to make a first team appearance. But signing for a big team a young age is a clear indication of Prince's talent, and it's fair to say there is no shame in not making an appearance for a club of that stature at a young age!

He then moved onto Atalanta, who he is also yet to make a first team appearance for. Prince spent last season on loan in Portugal's famed Primeira Liga making 26 appearances Rio Ave. While not being sure what level most Primeira Liga clubs are at I'm sure it's fair to say a season spent in it should translate well to Championship level. Prince has also made appearances for a few French international youth teams which shows his talent considering the calibre of young French defenders at the moment.

Prince of course made his debut for the club against Derby County yesterday with reports of his performance being incredibly positive.

I believe the best indication of him as a player is that he was only cleared to play a matter of hours before kick-off and had only trained with the team once, not great preparation by anyone's standards. He then managed to keep a clean sheet alongside Dervite, who as we all know can be about as useful as a chocolate tea pot..

Hopefully this means there is more to come from the young Frenchman as he settles into the squad.

The ever reliable Wikipedia notes that Prince can play in a three at the back system. This was likely a factor for Lennon when signing Prince considering his fondness of the system, despite it being hit and miss last season.With Derik Osede, Tim Ream and (hopefully) David Wheater set to return to the first team in the coming weeks Bolton Wanderers might finally have a solid group of centre backs capable of playing three or four at the back. It has been quite a while since I have felt good about the Bolton defence but now we also have a real right back in Lawrie Wilson as well it seems the team may finally be in a position to actually do that mythical thing called defending!

This seems like a solid signing by Lennon after what I think has been a decent summer of business, especially considering the financial pressure.

Considering other defenders in the squad are somewhat brittle (with the exception of Wheater who always amazes me with his ability to stay injury free) it is fair to say we need extra bodies and we may even have found a player who will improve the team. I have to say though I was a little surprised to see Prince take the number 2 shirt as I was expecting to see another full back come in, perhaps Francesco Pisano, and take that shirt. But there is still time in the transfer window for that to happen!