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Liam Lawrence finally off the Portsmouth paybill as he heads to Greece

The transfer of Simon Cox to Nottingham Forest was also confirmed today.

LIAM LAWRENCE WAS officially unveiled by Greek club PAOK Salonika on Tuesday, leaving his former club Portsmouth with one less hungry mouth to feed.

Lawrence was the last professionally-contracted player at the League One side, following the transfer of defender Ben Haim, but he will now ply his trade in the Greek Super League.

The 30-year-old midfielder, who has been capped 15 times for Ireland, was unveiled alongside defender Matheus Vivian. He has signed a two-year contract.

Lawrence spent five months at Cardiff City last season as Portsmouth looked for assistance in paying his wages.

Lawrence said, “I have come to a top club. It is (natural) that a player would want to come here. PAOK are one of the contenders for the championship.”

The former Stoke midfielder said the decision to move had not been any easy one, due to family reasons, and he likened Greek fans’ passion to that of the Irish football supporters.

“My challenge is to improve and prove that I can play in one of the best leagues in Europe,” he added.

Simon of Nottingham

As reported by TheScore.ie on Saturday, Nottingham Forest manager Sean O’Driscoll was more than keen on securing the striking services of Simon Cox.

The interest, discussions and medicals became an official transfer on Tuesday as Forest announced the signature of the 25-year-old, who featured at Euro 2012.

West Brom’s sporting director, Dan Ashworth paid tribute to Cox’s service for the Premier League club.

He pointed out that the transfer was ‘a good move for him’ due to the stiff competition up front from Shane Long, Peter Odemwingie and Romelu Lukaku, a loan signing from Chelsea.

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