Republic of Ireland international Andy O'Brien has ended his Portsmouth nightmare by signing for Bolton Wanderers. The 29-year-old defender has agreed a two-year-deal for an undisclosed fee.
O'Brien, who was out of favour at Portsmouth following Harry Redknapp's return as manager, has the option of extending the deal by an additional year.
"Andy is a great and astute acquisition for this football club," said new Bolton boss Sammy Lee. "His versatility across the back line will give us greater strength in depth and options in a critical area."
O'Brien, who is Lee's 12th summer signing since succeeding Sam Allardyce as manager, will hope the transfer revives his career having languished in the reserves for the last year.
O'Brien was a regular at Fratton Park under former manager Alain Perrien following his move from Newcastle but struggled to hold his position after Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin's arrival.
He made just one Premier League start last season - a defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford - and the lack of game time dented his confidence and hampered his international prospects.
"Andy is a good lad but he couldn't get back into team when I brought other people in," said Redknapp today. "He's a hard-working lad and I'm sure he'll do a good job for Bolton."
Owing to that lack of sharpness O'Brien endured a torrid night in the 5-2 defeat to Cyprus last October. He then missed Ireland's home draw with the Czech Republic days later because of an ankle injury.
Paul McShane deputised that night and has since gone from strength to strength and his partnership with Richard Dunne looks impenetrable for the time being.
Consequently manager Steve Staunton has overlooked O'Brien for recent squads, citing that lack of first-team action.
However, it is still possible O'Brien could be offered a path back into the fold if Staunton selects him for Wednesday week's friendly in Denmark.
Celtic's Darren O'Dea is being groomed for the senior squad but is named in the under-21 selection to play Germany the night before so O'Brien could yet feature in Aarhus if picked this Thursday.
