ROBBIE Elliott turned out to be the secret signing Colin Todd had up his sleeve while he was trying to tempt Peter Beardsley to join Wanderers' Premiership bandwagon.

When he was reported to have been seen speaking to the veteran former England star in a hotel at Scotch Corner on the A1, the Bolton boss admitted having travelled to the North East on transfer business ... but Beardsley was not the target.

At that point, he was 95 per cent sure he had a deal with Newcastle that would make Elliott the club's record signing.

Wanderers' ambitious approach, first reported exclusively in the Bolton Evening News on May 28, was originally rebuffed. But Todd's persistence paid off and he and Elliott shook hands in the Algarve on Saturday night to finalise the transfer.

"Robbie knew how serious we were when we had him fly out here at the weekend," the manager said from his sunshine retreat in Portugal.

"All the talk was about the football aspect of the move, not the finance. I told him about the style in which we play and the position I want him to play in. He was also impressed when I told him of the club's ambitions and the move to the new stadium." AMBITIOUS Wigan Athletic, who pipped Tranmere to sign Scott Green for £300,000, could return to Wanderers with an offer for David Lee, who is out of contract. The 29-year-old winger is also interesting Fulham.

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