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Bolton sign ex-Arsenal prodigy Muamba for £5 million

17/06/2008

Bolton Wanderers have splashed out £5 million to sign England Under-21 midfielder Fabrice Muamba from Birmingham City.

The 20-year-old has signed a four-year deal at the Trotters to become Gary Megson's first signing of the summer.

Megson said Muamba's experience in the Arsenal youth set-up would be an asset to his side.

"Fabrice is a tough-tackling central midfielder who has had a good grounding with the Arsenal youth set-up," Megson said.

"He'll be a tremendous asset to Bolton Wanderers over the coming seasons."

The midfielder was reportedly also a target for Wigan Athletic, managed by former Blues boss Steve Bruce.

After releasing veteran Ivan Campo at the end of last season, Megson was eager to add depth to his midfield options.

Muamba moved to St Andrews on a season-long loan from Arsenal at the start of the 2006/07 season before making the deal permanent last year.

He scored two goals in 37 appearances last season as Alex McLeish's were relegated to the Championship.

Arsenal will receive 30 per cent of the transfer fee becuse of a sell-on clause agreed when he signed for the Midlands club

Muamba, who moved to England from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1994, made his under-21 debut in a friendly against Romania in August 2007.

He has gone on to make a further six appearances for Stuart Pearce's Under-21's side.