Striker Anthony Elding, who scored the winner for Sligo Rovers in their recent FAI Cup final victory over Drogheda, has joined Cork City.
The Englishman said uncertainty over the future of Rovers manager Ian Baraclough, who was only reconfirmed as Bit O'Red boss for next season on Friday, had stalled contract renewal talks and led to his move to the Leesiders.
“I’m looking forward to it," said 31-year-old.
“Obviously, I’ve had a really good year at Sligo. I really enjoyed my time there and was in negotiations about staying but talks broke down because the manager wanted to return to England and assess other options.
“That put the contract negotiations on hold, which wasn’t ideal.
“Having the interest from Cork, and speaking to Timmy [Murphy, CEO] and the manager John [Caulfield], I think it’s a great opportunity for me to go on and achieve more.
“Cork want to push on and get up to the top of the league and win trophies. Hopefully I can help towards that.”
Cork boss Caulfield expressed his delight with the capture of the combative forward, who has also played for Leeds United Preston, Grimsby Town, Stockport County, Rochdale and Ferencvaros (Hungary) in recent years.
“Anthony scored 19 goals last year and, while people will remember him for the winning goal in the FAI Cup final, I remember him getting lots of great goals in the league throughout the season,” said Caulfield.
“He’s a big target man. Again, it’s showing the club’s intentions of being competitive and being up near the top.
“We want to win things and every time I spoke to him, it was clear that he wanted to come to the club.
“He’s a winner, and he’s the type of player we’re looking for.”
“He’s a winner, and he’s the type of player we’re looking for” - John Caulfield
“When I first contacted him, we seemed to strike a bond straight away.
“He came down to Cork and saw the facilities – the UCC Mardyke, the training ground and he knows Turner’s Cross.
“He could see the potential and he bought into that.
“I enjoyed his enthusiasm; he promised me that he would score loads of goals and I expect him to do just that.”
