Celtic have confirmed the loan exit of Johnny Kenny to Bolton Wanderers.
Martin O’Neill has reinforced his Hoops attack on Deadline Day, adding Junior Adamu to the ranks with Joel Mvoku soon to follow.
This has pushed Kenny further down the pecking order, after receiving plenty of minutes throughout the first half of Celtic’s season.
O’Neill’s faith in Kenny was rewarded by his header against Rangers at Hampden. He has also netted braces against Falkirk and Auchinleck Talbot.
But it has now been confirmed that he will spend the rest of the season in England’s third tier.
You can pick one forward to sign permanently for Celtic in the summer. Who are you picking?
Adamu or Cvancara?
Bolton Wanderers sign Johnny Kenny on loan from Celtic
The move marks the end of a long transfer pursuit.
Bolton have been linked with Kenny in three consecutive transfer windows, trying to sign him permanently in the summer window.
READ MORE: Evan Ferguson gets new European link despite Roma decision on Celtic target
This interest was quashed when Kenny agreed a new long-term contract at Celtic Park, though Brendan Rodgers did not rule out a loan exit after this happened.
As Kenny’s fortune had it, Celtic failed to equip Rodgers’ attack sufficiently, catapulting the Irishman into the first-team picture.
According to Sky Sports, multiple Championship clubs as well as German giants Schalke were in the hunt for the 22-year-old.
There’s no doubt that Kenny has come in for some criticism from the Parkhead support, but his Celtic involvement has been beneficial for his career.
This is evidenced by his call-up for the Ireland squad, with Kenny making his debut in their dramatic 3-2 win over Hungary.
Whether he can remain in their plans while playing in League One remains to be seen, but he is certainly going to be playing football.
Grade how successful you think Celtic’s transfer window has been
Johnny Kenny on his move to Bolton
Speaking to the Bolton website, Kenny said of his move: “I knew there’d been an interest and Bolton reached out to me a lot during the summer, but I wanted to give Celtic a crack.
“I think I have in the last six months. But I’m happy to be here now. I’ve gained a lot of experience playing at Celtic in front of an amazing crowd every week and I just want to bring those experiences here now and hopefully help the club going forward.
“I want to bring in that winning mentality to the squad because if we win as much as possible, we’ll get to where we want to be and that’s ultimately the aim.
“I hope to bring goals, work-rate and just help the team all round and I think if I can bring the level I can bring, we can get to where we want to.
“I look forward to the next few months. The club is in a brilliant position and we want to go and get promoted – that’s the aim.
“Promotion would be amazing, to bring this club back one division closer to where it should be and I hope I can help the club do that.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
