Bristol Rovers will pay Cardiff City up to £150,000 for defender James Connolly, Bristol Live understands, but that figure won't be up front and includes appearance-based clauses.
Rovers completed the signing of the talented centre-back on Friday with Connolly signing a three-year contract after the Bluebirds activated a 12-month option in his previous agreement in order to extract a fee from the Gas.
After an outstanding loan spell, bringing Connolly back was a no-brainer for manager Joey Barton, with the 20-year-old not part of Steve Morrison’s plans at the Cardiff City Stadium. However, the Gas have still had to go through several weeks of negotiations to get him back to north Bristol with the Bluebirds fully aware of his importance to Rovers as they prepare for the League One campaign.
