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20th December 2018
05:18pm GMT
"Bolton Wanderers can confirm the cancellation of midfielder Stephen Ireland’s contract by mutual consent. The 32-year-old linked up with the Whites on a short-term contract back in October, but the decision has now been taken between himself and the club to bring his deal to an end. "All at BWFC would like to wish Stephen all the best with his future endeavours."https://twitter.com/OfficialBWFC/status/1075767895500550145 The former Manchester City midfielder signed for Bolton on October 9. According to Marc Iles, a reporter for the Bolton News, Ireland only managed to play a couple of reserve-team games during his brief time with the club. His contract had been due to expire in January. Bolton are currently second from bottom in the Championship. Ireland is a free agent once again. The 32-year-old has only made five first-team appearances over the last two seasons, after breaking his leg in training in May 2016. He was released by Stoke City last summer after five years with the club.
Ireland was highly rated as a young player and briefly excelled for Manchester City, winning the club's player of the season award for the 2008/09 Premier League season. A year later, he was transferred to Aston Villa as part of the deal that took James Milner to City.
After three seasons with Villa, and a loan spell with Newcastle United, Ireland signed for Stoke where he scored six goals in 70 games.
The Corkman won six caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring four times. He last featured for the national team in 2007 when Steve Staunton was the manager.Explore more on these topics:
