Derry City have added another player to their squad with James Olayinka moving to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on a two-year contract.
Olayinka departs Waterford where he impressed in his one season at the RSC.
The London-born midfielder is a product of the Arsenal academy where he spent 16 years and started his senior career with loan spells at Northampton Town and Southend United.
Olayinka then spent two seasons at Cheltenham Town where he made a total of 38 appearances, before arriving at Waterford ahead of the 2025 campaign.
City boss Tiernan Lynch said: "There were a number of aspects that James impressed me with last year. His legs and his energy and he's also a good footballer. Technically he’s good, stays on the ball and also the fact that he knows the league.
"When we chatted, he talked about how impressed he was with Derry last year so he’s definitely somebody that we were very keen to get on board. He’s ticks a lot of boxes as far as age and, as I say, legs, energy, good footballer. And I think there’s probably so much more in him and hopefully we can bring that out.
"I think James is one of those types of players that is gonna come in and give us that energy and give us that box-to-box that he talks about. A really good lad, wants to improve, wants to get better. We’re excited about him."
Olayinka feels he can make a bigger impact in his second year in the league.
The midfielder explained: "I'm excited to get going. I got a taste of the league last year and managed to play a lot of games.
"I think one of the first things the manager said to me is we're looking to go one step further this year. And that was one of the big things for me.
"It's a club with ambition, a manager with ambition, aiming to win the league."
