THE shirt worn by Wanderers' Japanese ace Hidetoshi Nakata on the day he signed for the club has been sold for a whopping £1,680.

A bidding war broke out after the club teamed up with internet auctioneers eBay to sell the player's No16 shirt to raise funds for the Wanderers Academy, which helps to produce the Bolton football stars of the future.

There were 45 bids for the sought-after shirt, which had been signed by the player who is known as Japan's answer to David Beckham.

He has joined Wanderers on a year's loan from the Italian side Fiorentina.

Club officals said the sum paid for the shirtt far exceeded their expectations.

And it dwarfed the sum of £200 previously paid for shirts worn and signed by such Wandererrs players as Jay Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff.

In contrast another shirt on sale, worn and signed by Nakata from his days at Italian side Parma, reached just 10p when bidding opened on eBay on Sunday.

Also, there have been just five bids for a Wanderers shirt signed by Nakata and 13 other players, with £36, the top bid so far.

Bidding for an England shirt signed by 27 England players is set to end at £56.

This week the Whites will take their partnership with eBay a step further by offering the shirt Fabrice Fernandes another new Wanderers player wore at his Reebok signing.

The French player previously played for Southampton.