PIERRE-YVES Andre woke up on Friday morning thinking he would be leaving Nantes to join French rivals Lille; by the end of the day he was a Bolton player!
"I was thinking I was going to sign for Lille then I had Sam Allardyce on the phone asking me to come here," the 28-year-old striker said. "I didn't have to think about it for long. My first choice was to come to Bolton."
Andre and his fellow Frenchman, the Lyon centre-back Florent Laville, were flown in by private jet on Friday night to win a race against time to have their loan deals registered before the midnight transfer deadline.
The jet, arranged by the Monaco-based Willie McKay - busiest of all the top European agents during January - flew from Cannes, collecting Laville in Lyon and Andre in Rennes along the way, before landing at Manchester at 10pm.
Andre considered a move to England before he joined Nantes from Bastia, where he first came to Allardyce's attention. He believes he can hit the goals that can help Wanderers stay in the Premiership but knows that, with just 12 games left, he has little time to settle in.
Reacting to the manager's suggestion that his three new signings are under pressure to be "saviours", he added: "I know it's not easy to come to a club and be ready straight away. But I will have to reduce the time it takes to adapt.
"I wanted to come to England before but I chose Nantes because they won the Championship and played in the Champions League the year after."
Florent has been a one-club man up to now, captaining Lyon for four of his nine seasons as a first-team player, but says he is hungry for a fresh challenge.
"It will be strange not playing for Lyon but I wanted to come here," he said. "I want to bring my experience of the Premier League in France and prove to myself and to others that I can play in one of the best championships in the world."
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