Bolton Wanderers: Aaron Morley, Wycombe Wanderers decision now obvious more than ever | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers have recalled Aaron Morley back from his loan at Wycombe Wanderers and he must remain at the club and not be sold to the Chairboys.

In his first game after returning to the club from his loan in the first half of the campaign, Aaron Morley scored a stoppage-time winner for Bolton Wanderers as they defeated Exeter City 2-1 at St James Park.

If Ian Evatt and the Trotters’ hierarchy were in the balance with regards to being open to selling Morley this month then their minds should already have been made up.

He joined Wycombe Wanderers on loan in August and had been instrumental for the Chairboys, departing Matt Bloomfield’s side after scoring another last-gasp winner, again against Exeter, on New Year’s Day to send them to the top of League One above big-spending Birmingham City and Wrexham.

Now, with Bolton striving to turn their season around and push towards the play-off places in the second half of the campaign, Bolton must surely keep Morley amid further interest from Wycombe.

Bolton’s options in midfield

The departure of Morley on loan came after Bolton had brought in Jay Matete on a temporary basis from Sunderland but it was still a surprise to see a departure as it left Wanderers light in that area.

Matete made up a quartet of available central midfielders alongside Josh Sheehan, George Thomason, and Kyle Dempsey with Evatt seemingly reluctant to play Scott Arfield in that role and preferring to use the former Canada international further up the pitch.

Wanderers switched from a 3-5-2 system to a 3-4-2-1 over the summer and while that meant having fewer midfielders made sense, reduced central numbers also limited Bolton’s tactical options and flexibility, almost forcing Evatt to play a 3-4-2-1 system when he perhaps didn’t have the players capable of playing in the two number 10s.

Morley returning to the club has coincided with Kyle Dempsey now being ruled out until the end of the season so numbers haven’t necessarily been boosted but the arrival of the tactically flexible Joel Randall also suggests Wanderers could return to a 3-5-2 should they see fit.

Aaron Morley has rediscovered his form

Aside from the practical benefits of the return of Morley, it cannot go unsaid that his qualities should also make Bolton’s decision-makers think twice about allowing him to depart again.

When he joined from Rochdale during the January transfer window of 2022, he was a low-key addition surrounded by the likes of James Trafford and Dion Charles but he soon made the midfield position his own with an array of passing that marked him out as a stellar set-piece taker, too.

At the start of the 2022/23 campaign, he appeared to have evolved his game to an all-action, box-to-box midfielder that was capable of getting in behind defences, as shown by a goal on the opening day of the campaign in a 3-0 win against Wycombe Wanderers.

However, the former Manchester City academy prospect stagnated over the course of the next 18 months or so before finding himself down the pecking order behind the likes of the aforementioned Sheehan and Thomason as well as Dempsey, Kieran Lee, and Paris Maghoma, who was on loan from Brentford last season.

Morley, though, initially showed immense potential at the Toughsheet Community Stadium and appears to have realised that further this season following regular game time away from the club with a fellow promotion contender.

Wycombe have reportedly had a 'substantial' offer to renew his loan until the end of the season rejected and Evatt has said that he will not be going back out on loan but will either be a part of the Bolton setup or sold.

With that in mind, it would be no huge surprise to see the Chairboys test Wanderers' resolve again this month.

Should that happen, Bolton's response should now be obvious – keeping the 24-year-old beyond the end of the month is the best course of action.