Transfer Gossip: Eoin Doyle agrees 3 year deal with St Pat’s

It was only last night that rumours began to circulate about St Pat’s interest in Eoin Doyle, with reports suggesting they were eyeing up a move for the striker in the January window.

Well, it seems that things were far more progressed than we thought - with reports from the Irish Examiner stating that Doyle has apparently agreed a three year deal with the League of Ireland side.

The article states:

“Eoin Doyle has disappointed his former club Shamrock Rovers by deciding to join their rivals St Patrick’s Athletic on a three-year contract.

The 33-year-old has been a prolific scorer in the UK since moving from Sligo Rovers to Pat Fenlon’s Hibernian a decade ago, taking in subsequent spells in England for Chesterfield, Cardiff City, Preston North End and Swindon Town.

He continued to find the net following his move to Bolton Wanderers in July 2020, scoring 19 times along their promotion trail to the League One, where he’s added another four this term.

Despite having 18 months left on his contract, personal reasons have influenced his decision to move home ahead of the League of Ireland season kicking off in February.

He and his wife Ciara have three young children and own, alongside Doyle’s former Sligo teammate Danny Ventre, a childcare business based in Firhouse.

Doyle and Saints boss Tim Clancy shared a dressing-room at Hibs and his new manager led the chase for the frontman once his availability was flagged.

It’s understood Shamrock Rovers, whom Doyle began his League of Ireland career with in 2009, held discussions with the player but couldn’t match the terms offered by the Saints.

Bolton and Doyle have come to an arrangement on the remainder of his contract to allow him to become a free agent and join Pat’s once the transfer window opens this weekend.”

Doyle was a marquee signing for Wanderers last season, having been League Two’s top goalscorer in the 2019/20 season. He proved to be a success, scoring nineteen goals in all comps, becoming the first player to score more than twelve in a season for Wanderers since Michael Ricketts in 2002.

Wanderers are of course set to sign a new striker themselves - Northern Ireland international Dion Charles, who is leaving Accrington Stanley for the UNIBOL for a reported £300,000.

You’d think that with a large chunk off the wage bill and a striker light, we’ll be looking for someone else to come in alongside Charles in the next month.

If this proves to be true, Doyle of course goes with the best wishes of everyone at LOV. He was brought in last year to score the goals to take us up and he did exactly that.