Bolton Wanderers sign young Celtic striker on loan

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Bolton Wanderers have signed young Celtic forward Johnny Kenny on loan for the rest of the season, rounding off a busy January transfer window with a final bit of business on deadline day.

All told, that’s seven new arrivals brought in this month as the League One side looks to continue their promotion push.

The Republic of Ireland international Johnny Kenny is just the latest among a number of offensive reinforcements, with Steven Schumacher looking to both increase his side’s goal output and further shore up the defence.

Still just 22, Kenny has already shown plenty of potential back in the Scottish Premiership, and now the fans will see how he takes to life in the English third tier.

Already scoring six times and registering a couple of assists in 22 appearances across all competitions so far this campaign, the Sligo-born striker is just a couple of contributions away from chipping in with his best overall tally in the league over a full term.

His best senior spell overall came on loan in the Republic of Ireland, where he scored a baker’s dozen of goals and assisted three times for Shamrock Rovers.

While perhaps not the most competitive league, he’s certainly taken some of that form back to his parent club in 2025/26, and now Celtic will get an even better sense of where his level is at right now – as will Bolton Wanderers.

Addressing the supporters deal in a club statement, Schumacher said: “We’re delighted to have signed Johnny to continue a really strong month. He is a player who we rate very highly and is someone we identified last summer as someone who would really strengthen our attacking options.

“He’s since played regularly and scored goals at a high level, so [he] will be a big addition for us. We didn’t think he would be available during this window, but once we were made aware Celtic would allow him to leave on loan, we acted really quickly to get the deal done.”

With other acquisitions such as attacking midfielder Ruben Rodrigues and winger Corey Blackett-Taylor, who has already scored on his debut, there’s suddenly some real squad depth to draw from.

As for Kenny, the promising youngster has every intention of quickly becoming the main man at the Toughsheet Stadium, taking on the number nine shirt.

Speaking in his first full interview as a Trotter, Kenny admitted that the interest has been there for some time and that the deal has been a longer process than the eleventh-hour nature might suggest, but reiterated that Bolton “reached out to [him] a lot during the summer.”

He’s made it clear that his aim is not only to increase his regular first-team minutes but also to make sure he is well and truly in the final national team picture.

Ireland are yet to find out if they qualify for the 2026 World Cup – pending a tricky playoff tie this March – but Kenny clearly wants to make sure there’s no doubt in terms of selection should they make it through the challenge.

Elsewhere in the EFL, another big attacking loan deal was done by local promotion rivals Stockport County, who have managed re-sign Louie Barry for a third spell.

Louie Barry returns to Stockport County for a third loan spell
There’s been some cracking deals done in Greater Manchester this month.

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Featured Images — Bolton Wanderers Football Club (via X)

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