Bolton Wanderers have signed former Spain captain and Real Madrid defender Fernando Hierro on a one-year contract.

“The signing of Hierro is a major coup for Bolton,” manager Sam Allardyce said on the club’s website.

“Most people in the game know him as a defender but he has played most of his career as a midfielder and we now have the flexibility of playing him in those two areas.”

“After spending a year in Qatar, he is desperate to make an impression again in mainstream European football,” he added.

Hierro, who won 89 caps for Spain, spent last season playing for Qatar’s Al Rayyan.

He was released by Real in July 2003 after 14 hugely successful years with the club, during which he won six Spanish league titles and three European Cups.