Petrov is pick of the freebies - Coyle (From Leigh Journal)

Petrov is pick of the freebies - Coyle

7:00am Thursday 1st July 2010 in Bolton Wanderers By Marc Iles

OWEN Coyle has secured what he believes to be one of the best freebies on the market in stylish winger Martin Petrov.

The Bulgaria international will be officially unveiled today alongside Robbie Blake as the manager’s first two signings of the transfer window, both arriving on Bosman free transfers from Manchester City and Burnley respectively.

And in 31-year-old Petrov, Coyle reckons he has beaten several of Europe’s top clubs to one of the biggest bargains of the summer.

“Apart from perhaps Joe Cole, I don’t think there was a better Bosman on the entire market,” the Wanderers boss said. “There was so much interest in him, and had I wanted to sign him in January it would have cost me £4-5million.

“He has such quality, a great left foot, and has so many different dimensions to his play. I’m sure he will prove a top, top player for Bolton Wanderers.”

Petrov spent three years at City after signing from Atletico Madrid for £4.3m but struggled to find regular first team football under Mark Hughes or Roberto Mancini.

Despite his irregular appearances at Eastlands, he was a highly popular player on the terraces, and it was after a heavy bout of fan pressure that the Bulgarian won back his place in the side at the end of last season.

But a knee injury ended his campaign four games early and City boss Mancini elected to release him, sparking a race for his signature that involved clubs from the Premier League, France, Spain and Germany.

“He got back into the team and held his place alongside the likes of Craig Bellamy, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson, so it shows what level of player we’re talking about,” Coyle added.

“He had a knee injury at the end of last season but we’ve had a really close look at him and we’ve got no worries about that at all.

“If you look back, he hadn’t really missed a lot of football at all when he played at clubs like Atletico Madrid or Wolfsburg.”

Petrov often cast a frustrated shadow because of his lack of involvement in spells at Eastlands, but Coyle hopes to harness some of that to his advantage.

“The important thing for me is that he’s hungry,” he said. “People will talk about contracts and money but I can honestly say that the first time I met him, all we chatted about was football and how he could help this football club.

“He’s not just happy to go through the motions. He’s here to play at his absolute maximum.”