Sam Allardyce was relieved the club's persistence had paid off after Nicolas Anelka signed a four-year deal with Bolton Wanderers who agreed to pay a club record £8million to Fenerbahce.
The 27-year-old, who has had previous stints in England with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, successfully completed a medical with Wanderers to become their record signing, the fee dwarfing the previous top mark of £3.5million paid to Wimbledon for Dean Holdsworth in 1997.
The striker will now travel to London to meet his new team-mates ahead of their game with Charlton at The Valley.
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce told the club's website: 'Patience is a virtue and I am pleased to say that all the waiting and hard work we've done behind the scenes has paid off.
'Nicolas is a player with an amazing track record in the Premiership: he was born to score goals.'
