GLENN Roeder has today confirmed his second signing of the summer, in the form of Wes Hoolahan for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal with City's goalkeeper Matthew Gilks moving in the opposite direction to Blackpool.

Speaking exclusively to canaries.co.uk on transferring to the Club, Hoolahan said: "I am delighted to be joining Norwich City. I had several options but as soon as I met the manager and saw the facilities, I knew Norwich City were a club that matched my ambitions. I want to play Premier League football as soon as possible and I feel that this move will give me that opportunity. Norwich City have a fantastic fanbase and play the type of football that suits my game."

On capturing Hoolahan, Roeder told First News: "I've been following the progress of Wes since I first saw him in our away game at Bloomfield Road. I felt he was a threat to us throughout the match, even though we won the game. When he played for Blackpool at Carrow Road, he was the outstanding player on the pitch - everytime he got the ball he threatened. We've been looking at him now for around 5 or 6 months and I can't tell you how pleased I am to secure his signature. He can thread a ball through the eye of a needle and I am sure our fans will love him."

26-year-old Gilks travels to the Seasiders after joining the Canaries on a free transfer in June 2007 following his contract at Rochdale coming to an end.

On saying farewell to Gilks, Roeder said: "Matty leaves us after one season. I felt that with him being an experienced goalkeeper, he needed to get back to playing first team football. With the excellent young keepers we have at the Club now, including David Marshall, I couldn't see Matt playing too much football here and I felt it was the right thing to let him go."

The 26-year-old midfielder who joins from Blackpool spent two seasons at Bloomfield Road, scoring six goals for The Seasiders in all competitions this season. Hoolahan recently made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland, when he replaced Andy Keogh in the 89th minute in a 1-0 win over Colombia.


BBC Five Live pundit Steve Claridge, writing in The Independent, commented on Hoolahan: "He is a player with incredibly quick feet, a low centre of gravity, excellent awareness of those around him and a supreme confidence in his own ability to get out of tight situations.

"He is always willing to get involved, switches the ball from left to right foot in a flash, but will instinctively move infield and search out cluttered areas where he feels happiest."

The Dublin born player began his career at Shelbourne in 2001, later moving to Livingston for the 2005-2006 season. Whilst at Shelbourne, Hoolahan played in the Champions League qualifiers a total of fifteen times, and won three League of Ireland Championships for the Shels. Named as the PFAI 2002-2003 Young Player of the Year, Hoolahan can also count 3 Republic of Ireland U21 caps amongst his career achievements to date.

Both deals are subject to Football League and Football Association approval.