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Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu has left Southampton and joined fellow Championship side Bolton Wanderers on a three-year deal. The move away from the Saints marks a fresh start for the 24-year-old. Although he made 19 appearances in the Championship last season, the Dubliner had fallen down the goalkeeping pecking order at St Mary's since signing for Southampton from Manchester City in 2022. In the second half of the 2025-26 campaign, the former Shamrock Rovers player spent an injury-affected spell on loan at Stoke City. Prior to that, Southampton had also loaned him to Belgian top flight side Standard Liege. Bazunu, who has 22 Irish senior caps to his name, said the opportunity to garner regular minutes was a key consideration in making the move to Bolton for an undisclosed fee. "It's obviously a club with massive history. I see it as a place where I can come and progress my personal career, while helping the team with their ambitions of getting back to where they belong," Bazunu told Wanderers TV. "I want to get back to being in a position where I’m playing week in, week out and enjoying my football again. My big aim and ambition here is to play as many games as I can and show my levels. "I’m excited to be here and excited for what’s to come. I’m sure all the other new signings will have said the same thing, but we’re excited to get going, show our qualities and show where this team belongs." Bazunu's last cap to date for Ireland came in March 2024 in a friendly against Switzerland, while his most recent call-up under Heimir Hallgrimsson was last November. Nicolas Jackson has completed his move to Aston Villa from Chelsea for a fee understood to be worth a club-record £65million, signing a five-year deal. The move reunites the striker with manager Unai Emery, under whom he worked when they were together at LaLiga side Villarreal. Emery confirmed the 25-year-old's imminent arrival during his press conference on Friday to preview Monday’s game against Arsenal, with the club announcing the deal several hours later. The Senegal international, who was the subject of interest last summer from Villa before making a loan move to Bayern Munich, comes in as a replacement for Ollie Watkins, whose £50m move to Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal is being finalised. Jackson had been training separately from Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso’s main squad having been told he was not in the Spaniard’s plans for the season. He leaves Chelsea having scored 30 goals in 81 appearances in all competitions since moving to Stamford Bridge in 2023, helping the club win the Conference League and Club World Cup. He was first frozen out by former manager Enzo Maresca before making a highly protracted loan move to Bayern last August. The deal included conditions that ultimately went unmet for a permanent transfer. Watkins’ impending departure, which was also confirmed by Emery, means he will follow Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne out of Villa Park. The 30-year-old, who is the club’s top Premier League goalscorer and helped them to Europa League glory last season, refused to play in last weekend’s Premier League opener at Brighton, which Villa lost 4-0. That angered the fans and he subsequently apologised to Emery and his team-mates, but the manager insisted his legacy is intact. He said: "I can tell you his commitment and his behaviour was fantastic. "We didn’t get a deal to finish his last match playing at Brighton, but he told us after the match he was sorry, and he told us as well he made a mistake. "Now it’s a new chapter here with Nicolas Jackson."