Bolton Wanderers: Key pair tipped to command £4m combined fee | OneFootball

Our resident Bolton Wanderers pundit delivers his verdict on the value of two of the Trotters' star men.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

After losing out to Oxford United in the League One play-off final back in May, Bolton Wanderers have endured something of a hangover from their Wembley defeat and have had a mixed start to their 2024/25 campaign.

Despite their inconsistent start, Ian Evatt’s men are currently sat just one point outside the play-off places, with at least one game in hand on everybody above them, barring Birmingham City.

However, the Trotters have definitely improved since the start of the season, and are currently on a run of just two defeats in their last 11 league games. One of those came at the hands of heavy title favourites Birmingham, while the other was a 5-0 drubbing at Stockport County.

Dion Charles and George Thomason price tags named

Bolton’s squad is still stacked full of top-quality talent.

Ricardo Santos and Eoin Toal have become two of the very best centre halves in League One, while Josh Sheehan, who is now starting to force his way into the Wales team, can lay claim to being one of the best midfielders. Academy graduate George Thomason also enjoyed the best season of his career last term, ending 2023/24 with six league goals and seven assists to his name from the centre of midfield.

Where Bolton are particularly blessed is with the firepower they have in their attacking third of the pitch. In Dion Charles, they have as close to a guaranteed 20-goal man as you get in the third tier, and the lively John McAtee has also started well, after finding the net 15 times for Barnsley last season.

Aaron Collins has yet to hit the heights that saw him promoted with Bristol Rovers, but remains a massive threat.

For all of Bolton’s riches, our fan pundit Liam O’Meara has highlighted two players in particular who he feels would command significant fees, should they depart in January.

Liam said: "I think there are two players that would command a decent fee at Bolton at the moment.

"Firstly, goals are obviously at a premium, so Dion Charles. With successive seasons of proven goalscoring at League One and also international level, he seems to have kicked on there as well.

"I think he’s probably our most valuable player and I think around £2 million is probably what Bolton would look to get for him, given he’s turning 29."

As well as Charles, Liam also outlined Thomason as someone who carries a substantial price tag: "Secondly, George Thomason in the midfield.

"Bristol City bid £1million for him last summer, which was accepted by Bolton, and he chose not to move there.

"He’s now been made captain, he’s kicked on in his development, so maybe around £1.5 million or £2 million would be a fair price for Thomason."

Dion Charles is one of the lower leagues’ most prolific strikers

Since first breaking into the Football League with Accrington Stanley back in 2019/20, Charles has become one of the most prolific frontmen in the lower leagues.

He joined Stanley after scoring 14 goals for Southport in the National League North in 2018/19 and immediately made the jump to League One with relative ease.

He netted eight times in 33 games in his first season in Lancashire, before hitting 20 in all competitions the following season, in a side that were perennially huge underdogs at League One level.

His performances for Accrington earned him a move to Bolton in January 2022, for a fee believed to be in the region of £320,000.

He has since bagged 57 goals in 141 games for the Trotters and has reached 20 in all competitions in each of his last two campaigns.

Charles is also gaining a reputation at international level, scoring four times in 15 games for Northern Ireland across 2024.