John Thompson, a product of Nottingham Forest's youth academy, has signed a deal with Notts County. Thompson has been on loan with the Magpies since October and has now agreed to a permanent two-and-a-half move to Meadow Lane. County manager Ian McParland told their official website, "John's signing is a tremendous coup and a significant step forward for Notts County. He is exactly the type of player we need to bring into this club if we are going to achieve our ambitions. He has been a revelation since he joined us and although that hasn't surprised me, there was always a fear he might not want to join us on a permanent basis. Fortunately John has enjoyed his time here on loan and is now looking to playing a key role in helping us to keep Notts County moving forward." Thompson added, "I'm delighted to sign and stay on - it has been a great day. I really enjoyed my time here on loan and I'm looking forward hopefully achieving something at this club in the future. Notts County is a great club and having spoken to the Chairman and the Manager they were very ambitious with where they want the club to go. They both have a huge passion for Notts County, both love the club very much and I too really enjoy playing here. I'm an ambitious person as well and I was delighted with what they had to say. I want to play at a higher level and the Chairman and Manager want Notts County to be operating higher too. I've put pen-to-paper on a two-and-a-half-year contract so we've both shown a long-term commitment to try and get Notts County where they should be."
"I wasn't keen to go back to Oldham because I've really enjoyed playing first-team football again. I had one or two other options available to me but Notts County was the place I wanted to be at. The Club is making good signs of progress, for example the Centre of Excellence up and running again and the youth team starting next season. We just need to get it right on the pitch and start climbing that table - but we're moving in the right direction and the fans deserve success here."