After weeks of speculation, Anthony Stokes has finally signed a permanent 2-year deal with Hibs.

Stokes, 29, enters his third period at the club, following spells in 2009 under John Hughes and 2016 under Alan Stubbs.

He achieved legendry status amongst Hibs’ fans for his ‘man of the match’ performance in the club’s Scottish Cup Final victory over Rangers and the supporters have expressed their delight on social media.

Stokes’s arrival cap a strong transfer window that has seen the Club capture six full internationalists in Stokes, Efe Ambrose, Ofir Marciano, Steven Whittaker, Deivydas Matulevicius, and Vykintas Slivka, as well as clinching the signature of one of last season’s Ladbrokes Premiership stars Danny Swanson and up-and-coming striker Simon Murray.

In addition, several of last season’s Championship winning squad had to be re-signed, including skipper David Gray, Darren McGregor, Lewis Stevenson, Martin Boyle, Ross Laidlaw, Marvin Bartley and Liam Fontaine.

Stokes told Hibernian media: “I am delighted to be coming back to Hibernian.

“The club has a big place in my heart and it’s where I’ve played some of my best football.

“It’s an environment that can get the best out of me and I am looking forward to getting back amongst the squad and scoring goals again.

“The scenes of celebration following the cup win will live long in my memory, and the only disappointment from my last spell was that we didn’t get promotion.

“The boys did brilliantly last season and now I’ll be looking to help us push on back in the Premiership.”

Neil Lennon said: “Anthony’s a quality player that we all know well, and will be a massive addition to our strike force. “I’ve been really pleased with the work we’ve done over the summer – the squad is in good shape and we’ve made several strong additions.

“We now have competition in every area of the park and are ready for the start of the league campaign on Saturday.”

 

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John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.