Bolton part ways with Danny Shittu
Bolton Wanderers have parted ways with Danny Shittu after terminating the defender’s contract, which had a year left to run.
The 30-year-old Nigerian international penned a three-year deal with the English Premier League outfit in August 2008 when he moved from Football League Championship side Watford for a reported fee of two million pounds plus bonuses depending on appearances.
In his first season at the Reebok Stadium, Shittu played just 12 times for the club after making his debut against West Bromwich Albion in August 2008. However, he failed to feature at all last season — making just four appearances on the bench as an unused substitute.
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Despite struggling to make an impact at club level, the central defender was included in Nigeria’s squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He played in all three of his country’s group stage matches at the tournament, of which they drew one and lost two.
Shittu started out his career with Charlton Athletic and spent most of his first two seasons at the club on loan at Blackpool and then Queens Park Rangers. QPR later purchased the player outright in January 2002, in a deal funded by a fan of the club, who also paid the player’s wages during his first season there. Shittu enjoyed a successful few years at QPR, having made 159 appearances over four seasons and scoring 16 goals.
In August 2006, Shittu made the switch to then EPL side Watford for a fee of £1.6m. The 6ft 3in defender scored his first goal for the team when he headed past Newcastle United goalkeeper Steve Harper in a League Cup tie in November 2006. It took until May before he scored his first EPL goal, in a 2-0 win over Reading but he could not help Watford stay in the top flight and they were relegated to the Championship.
After a strong 2007-08 season which saw him score nine goals, Shittu was named in the 2007-08 Professional Footballers’ Association Championship Team of the Year and then won his ill-fated move to Bolton.
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