Owen Coyle has spoken of his excitement at the challenge of taking over as manager of Bolton Wanderers but admitted it had been an "unbelievable wrench" to leave Burnley.

Coyle signed a two-and-a-half-year deal last week and his first game in charge is against Arsenal at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday.

The former Bolton striker was officially unveiled as Gary Megson's successor this morning and said while he understood the disappointment surrounding his departure from Turf Moor, it was inevitable that he would move on at some point.

"We know in football there's two things which happen to football managers: you do well and you move on or you don't and you're moved on," Coyle said. "That's what's happened. It's very emotional, but it's such an exciting challenge here and that's what we have to look forward to."

Coyle is expected to be followed to Bolton by Phil Hughes, the goalkeeping coach, and Steve Davis, the first-team coach who had been appointed caretaker manager at Burnley when Coyle left. Sandy Stewart, Coyle’s assistant, and John Henry, a coach, have already moved to the Reebok Stadium.

Coyle's arrival at Bolton was finally confirmed after protracted negotiations over a compensation package with Burnley and the Scot admitted that although it had been a difficult decision to move on, he had made it purely for football reasons.

"The decision to move on was not straightforward," Coyle said. "It was difficult. The emotional attachment alone over the course of two years ... but when all was said and done we tried to take the emotion out of it and make what we felt was a football decision.

"I understand totally the sense of hurt and disappointment the Burnley fans would feel. It's a natural reaction and it can't be lost on anybody what we did do over two years. When I came into the football club we were in the bottom half of the Championship.

"We pulled it all together and that's probably why I'm here. The job we did caught other peoples' eyes."

Coyle also revealed that he turned down a summer approach from Celtic, which he offered as proof that he had joined Bolton because of financial reasons.

"I've never been motivated by money in my life," he said. "If it was finance I would have taken the job at Celtic in the summer. That is just a knee-jerk reaction from people that do not know me. I have an unbelievable challenge ahead here at this magnificent club, with a magnificent stadium, and I have to take that on.

"You want to be the best you can be and that's my motivation. I want to be involved at the highest level and the highest level in world football is the Premier League. There's no doubt about it, the best individual players in world football operate in the Premier League. You want to go and compete with the best in the business.

"Celtic were the team I supported as a boy and I spoke with Celtic in the summer. They offered me the job and I turned it down to stay at Burnley. I think that puts to bed anything about finances."

Coyle added: "If you look at the infrastructure of the club [Bolton], the academy, the training centre, everything is geared for top flight football and my job as manager is to make sure that happens.

"I must say, Burnley have still got a Premier League team as well. We really galvanised the club and took them to a level that is always going to be difficult. On balance I had to look at if we'd achieved survival, come the summer is there going to be that investment? I wasn't sure there was. In a transitional period I was trying to move things along quicker than finances would dictate."

Coyle called on Bolton supporters to get behind him after some sections of the Reebok Stadium had turned against the team in a bid to oust Gary Megson. "My message is the same as it always is to football supporters; come and support your football team. I'd say to Bolton fans come and support your team and get behind the lads.

Asked about his plans in the current transfer window, Coyle said: "First and foremost I have to be fair to the current squad. I've always felt the January window can be a an inflated market anyway so we'll have to look at that. If something is there that I think can improve the football club then it's something we'll look at."