Image Credits: Imago Images
Bolton Wanderers have officially announced the signing of Liverpool midfielder Luca Stephenson on a permanent deal.
Stephenson had spent the past two seasons on loan at Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership, establishing himself as a regular starter before his latest campaign was disrupted by injury.
The 22-year-old was entering the final year of his Liverpool contract and has featured in the club’s first-team squads across the last two pre-season tours, though now leaves having never made a senior competitive debut.
James Pearce of the Athletic has reported that the Reds secured £700,000 for the academy graduate and the club have negotiated a 20% sell-on clause.
Speaking to Bolton’s media channels, the 22-year-old said:
“I’ve spoken a lot in the past couple of years about wanting to find a permanent home. I didn’t mind where it was but to be at such a big club like Bolton, I think literally the minute I spoke to Fergal (Harkin) a couple of months ago now, it was the only place I really wanted to come,” Stephenson said.
“You know, the size of the club, the facilities here, the stadium, unbelievable. I came to a couple of games at the end of last year and watched the game against Bradford here in the play-offs.
“Just to see the atmosphere in the stadium, it makes you think, ‘you know, I want a piece of that,’. From speaking to a lot of people who have played for the club in the past and a few of the lads that are here now, nobody had a bad word to say about the place. There were just positive words everywhere and it’s something I wanted to be a part of.”