Walsall FC have signed defender James Wilson on a season-long loan deal from Sheffield United.
The 28-year-old centre-back becomes our first loan signing of the summer, and the fifth new face overall following the signings of Luke Leahy, Jon Guthrie, Mark Gillespie and Nicky Devlin.
Wilson, who has made more than 120 appearances in League One and has also played in the Championship, started his career as a trainee with Bristol City, spending loan spells at Brentford in 2008 and 2009, and Cheltenham in 2013.
The defender joined Oldham Athletic on a free transfer in January 2014, before moving on to Sheffield United last summer and scoring once in 10 appearances for the title-winning Blades - netting in a 2-1 win over Oxford United in August.
Wilson also has an international cap to his name, replacing James Collins in a 2014 World Cup qualifier for Wales against Belgium and helping Chris Coleman’s side to a 1-1 draw.
And Wilson himself is looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Wilson.
“I want to get some games in and this definitely seems like a great place to do that.
“I like to get on the ball as much as defenders can.
“My movement is quite good around the pitch so I like to cover people, to look after people.
“It’s going to be a tough league this year, more so than last year. We can go to these places looking to get a scalp.
“For me personally, the gaffer wants me to play as well as we can.
“If Villa bring their strongest team it’ll be tough for us but we’ve got to show what we can do on the night and get our fitness out of it.
“The lads have been brilliant. Everyone has been really nice and friendly, even the staff.
“It’s a good place to be.”