Barnsley have today completed the signing of Northern Irish winger Paddy McCourt following a successful trial at the club.
The 29-year-old was a free agent having left Scottish giants Celtic after not being able to agree a new contract with the Parkhead side. He has since had a trial with Peterborough but couldn't agree terms there either.
He, along with former Brighton midfielder Gary Dicker have both been training with the Reds for the last week and it is expected that Dicker will be the next player to sign.
McCourt has previous with Reds boss David Flitcroft, having spent time playing with him at Rochdale back at the beginning of his career, just as Flicker was coming to the end of his.
Since leaving Spotland in 2005, McCourt has played for Shamrock Rovers and Derry City before earning a move to Celtic in 2008. He made 86 appearances for the Hoops overall, and scored 10 goals. He has also earnt 13 caps for his country.
He becomes the Reds' second signing in as many days after the loan capture of Norweigan striker Marcus Pedersen yesterday, and he spoke to www.barnsleyfc.co.uk after completing his move this afternoon:
"It was an easy decision," he said. "I’ve know the manager a long time. I’ve been speaking to him over the last couple of weeks.
"I’ve been down to a few training sessions, got to know the lads and delighted to be on board.
"He (Flitcroft) was coming to the end of his career at Rochdale when I was starting mine and he was very good with me then.
"He convinced me to come down and to be honest I’ve really enjoyed it."
The 29-year-old was released from Celtic this summer, and is relishing the prospect of facing some 'big clubs' with Barnsley.
"A lot of clubs probably think they should be in the Premier League," he continued. "Barnsley being in amongst them is a credit to them and there are big games every week.
"I’m an attacking player who likes to create and score goals. The short term goal is to get up to speed with the lads, I haven’t done a full pre-season so the next few weeks will be important; stay injury free, get training hard, kick on and get as many games as possible, really.
"I don’t know if I’ll be involved this weekend, I feel fine but it’ll probably take a few weeks to get to where the lads are in terms of core fitness.
"It’s up to myself to get my head down, work hard and the sooner I’m on the pitch, the better."