Jay-Jay Okocha signed for Bolton Wanderers in June 2002 on a free transfer after his contract with French club Paris St Germain expired. He signed a two-year deal at the Reebok Stadium.
Okocha joined Sam Allardyce's side fresh from Nigeria's World Cup challenge in Japan - where he came up against many Premiership stars in games against England, Sweden and Argentina. It proved to be the swansong for the inspirational skipper, as he announced his retirement from international football after picking up nearly 60 caps.
His move to Bolton was very much an on-off affair, as the Trotters had to hammer out an agreement over personal terms. It is believed Okocha became the highest paid player at the club, and the fact that there was no transfer fee enabled the move to go ahead.
Okocha told the club's official website: 'My Nigerian colleagues gave me a good impression of the Premiership and I am glad to be here. But I am not thinking about myself. I am thinking about what we can achieve as a team.
'I am very impressed with the club and the manager. They are ambitious and he is a nice man.'
Okocha is the most expensive African player ever, having cost more than £14m when he signed for PSG four years ago. But for a player obviously laden with talent and skill he fails to deliver too often.
Okocha arrived in European football by accident. He had flown to Germany at the age of 17 to visit a friend who played football in Neunkirchen. Okocha, who had already played in the Nigerian first division with Enugu Rangers, went along to train with the local club and was immediately persuaded to stay.
From Neunkirchen, he went to Saarbrucken and then quickly on to Eintracht Frankfurt in December 1991, still before his 18th birthday, where he exploded on to the Bundesliga stage.
A fallout with the coach saw him depart for Fenerbahce in Turkey, where the attention lavished on high profile players sometimes got the better of the quietly-spoken Nigerian. Okocha once lashed out at a photographer trying to take pictures of him strolling with his fiancée in a high publicised incident.
Okocha got his first taste of big-time European football in his first season at the Istanbul club in the 1996-97 Champions League and featured in Fenerbahce's shock win against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
After emerging as one of the few bright lights for Nigeria at the 1998 World Cup finals in France, he moved to Paris St Germain, where his fortunes were mixed.
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