Ronan Darcy has left Bolton Wanderers and joined League Two Swindon Town on a permanent basis.
The 21-year-old came through the youth team ranks at the Whites, having joined the club at a young age. He was the final member of the Junior Whites starting XI against Coventry City in August 2019.
He has played 35 times for the Whites and scored two goals since making his debut. He came off the bench once last season for Wanderers in the home defeat to Wycombe in mid-January.
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He spent most of last season away from the club, spending the first half of the campaign out on loan at Sogndal in Norway, playing nine times in that spell. In the second portion of the season, he headed to Scotland to play for Queen's Park, where he scored once in 10 games.
Pictures of Darcy emerged playing for Swindon Town as a trailist in their pre-season friendly against Melksham Town earlier this month. It sparked questions over his future at Wanderers and Ian Evatt explained the attacker wanted to forge a career in first team football.
And Darcy, who had a year left on his deal at Wanderers, has now departed the club for the Robins and joined the League Two side on a two-year contract. Wanderers have received a fee, but it is undisclosed.
Ian Evatt has spoken on the youngster departing Wanderers and has wished Darcy well for his future career, as he feels it is now time he forges a path in first team football. He believes the move to the Robins will suit the attacker with the way they play.
Had Darcy remained at Wanderers, he would have been a senior member of the club's new B team this campaign, with the hope of progressing to the first team in a highly competitive area of the squad. But Evatt has no issues at all with Darcy moving out to play and feels this opportunity was 'too good to turn down'.
Evatt said: “Absolutely I wish him well. A wonderful young man, no issues at all with him, but it’s just that time and stage of his career now that he needs to go and form a career for himself and that is to play regular first team football.
“It’s a great opportunity at Swindon. The way Swindon have played should really suit how he plays, so I think it’s a really good fit and I do really wish him well.
“He probably would have been towards the later developers at the B team level and because he’s tasted first team football, it’s really the time for him to go out and form a career in the game. He’s got a fantastic opportunity and I do really wish him well, he’s a wonderful young man and he’s one of our own and we always want to see them do well, so we’ll wish him luck and hopefully it’ll work out for him.
“I’ve got no issues with that. I think it was important for him to do so. Sometimes opportunities come around that are too good to turn down and I think this opportunity was too good for him to turn down.
“I think it’s a football club that suits his playing style really well and we wish him all the best obviously. He’s a wonderful young man with a great attitude and no issues with him whatsoever. He just wasn’t quite where we wanted and needed him to be right now to be a regular first team player and that position on the pitch in our team is super competitive, especially when you’ve got Josh Sheehan back into that mix, who is almost there as well.
“Go out there, form a career and any support we can ever give him we’re always going to be here for him.”
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