Bolton Wanderers' top 6 record signings: What is each player up to now? | OneFootball

In this century, Bolton Wanderers have finished as high as sixth in the Premier League and only three points away from UEFA Champions League qualification.

During their flirtations with Europe’s elite level, many of their better signings came on free transfers, such as Fernando Hierro, Jay-Jay Okocha or Youri Djorkaeff. Many were bargain buys from obscure places like Jussi Jaaskelainen and Ricardo Gardner or perhaps an academy graduate, with Nicky Hunt and Kevin Nolan performing key roles for the club.

There were, though, big money signings, at least in relative terms to Bolton and to the time, that had differing careers with the club and went on to very different things, too.

This is a look at Bolton Wanderers’ six record signings in terms of transfer fees paid, how they got on up in Lancashire and where they are now.

El-Hadji Diouf

Liverpool - £4 million, 2005

After helping Senegal reach the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea, El-Hadji Diouf was picked up by Liverpool but endured a difficult spell with the Reds before an initial loan to Bolton in 2004 before then signing permanently a year later. Diouf, a controversial figure, was a fan favourite and cult hero with Bolton, scoring some famous goals for the Trotters and finishing up with 24 goals in 136 appearances for the Whites.

After departing the Reebok Stadium in 2008, he joined Sunderland for half a season before then spending two years at Bolton’s local rivals Blackburn. Diouf had a fairly famous loan spell at Rangers before returning to England for spells in Yorkshire with Doncaster and Leeds. He finished his career in Malaysia with Sabah.

Diouf, who scored 24 goals in 70 caps for the Senegalese national team, Diouf runs his own newspaper in Senegal, Sport 11, as well as his own gym. Since retiring, he has been an ambassador for sport for the government in Senegal and also an adviser to Senegalese president, Macky Sall.

David N’Gog

Liverpool - £4 million, 2011

Another signing for £4 million from Liverpool came six years after the arrival of Diouf as Bolton signed David N’Gog from the Reds late in the summer transfer window of 2011. He endured a difficult time of it with the Trotters, scoring just three goals in 33 appearances in the Premier League before then scoring eight in the Championship the following year. He scored three in 17 before a cut-price move to Swansea City back in the top-flight in January 2014.

He only made three appearances for the Swans in the second-half of that campaign and eventually moved on to Ligue 1 club Stade de Reims, whereby he scored ten goals in 44 appearances over an 18-month period. Whilst with Reims, the club had to officially deny he had gone ‘missing’ when he was actually suffering from a virus. He eventually moved on to Greece with Panionios and then linked back up with former Bolton boss, Owen Coyle, in a bizarre move to Ross County in 2017.

After scoring just one goal in ten appearances for the Scottish club, he spent 18 more positive and productive months in Hungary with Honved before then finishing his career with the dominant club in Lithuanian football, Zalgiris Vilnius. He came out of retirement two years later back at Panionios but didn’t play for the club and is now without a club, albeit at 34 it is expected he has quietly retired.

Gary Cahill

Aston Villa - £5 million, 2008

A Rolls-Royce of a defender, Gary Cahill joined Bolton Wanderers for a fee of around £5 million towards the end of the January 2008 transfer window, and he established himself as genuinely one of the best defenders in the Premier League with Bolton, earning his first England call-up whilst with the Trotters.

He was eventually sold on in a cut-price deal in January 2012 to Chelsea for around £7 million, with Bolton then relegated from the Premier League a few months later. Whilst with the Blues, Cahill won two league titles, one as captain, two FA Cups, one EFL Cup, one UEFA Champions League and two UEFA Europa Leagues. He was capped 61 times for England, too, scoring five goals in that time.

He stayed in the Premier League for a further two years after leaving Chelsea, joining Crystal Palace and being a key man for the Eagles before an injury saw him depart. He then spent a season in the Championship with Scott Parker’s AFC Bournemouth and helped the Cherries re-gain promotion back to the top-flight. He is currently retired with his retirement statement discussing a desire to take part in family life.

Fabrice Muamba

Birmingham City - £5 million, 2008

Promising young defensive midfielder Fabrice Muamba began his career with Arsenal before joining Birmingham City on an initial loan deal in 2006 and then spending one season with the second city club before being poached by Bolton, where he became a key cog for nearly half a decade for Wanderers. With 33 caps for the England U21s, he was often viewed as a potential future England player and made 148 appearances for the Trotters.

In his 148th appearance for the club, though, he suffered a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. The match was abandoned and Muamba survived and made a recovery, despite it being said his heart had stopped for 78 minutes.

working at BBC North West Tonight as part of a work experience placement. He then went on to coaching and worked as a youth coach back at Bolton, but is now working as a youth coach at Burnley.

Nicolas Anelka

Many Bolton fans would tell you that Nicolas Anelka is their favourite Bolton player of all time, with the Frenchman enjoying a magnificent spell with the Trotters. Reviving his career after bouncing around from PSG, Arsenal, Real Madrid, back to PSG, Liverpool, Man City and then Fenerbahce; Anelka actually took his time to click into gear at Bolton, not scoring until a brace against former club Arsenal in late-November, including a famous screamer from distance. He finished that season with 11 goals in his final 25 appearances that season.

The year after, he had already reached ten in 18 for a struggling Bolton side that eventually sold him to Chelsea for £15 million. He scored 14 goals in 69 caps for France and was a part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad that ‘kicked off’ in South Africa and were eliminated at the group stage. Known as ‘Le Sulk’, Anelka still had things to before his career finished; signing for Shanghai Shenhua, Juventus, back to the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion and then finishing up at Mumbai City.

He is now the CEO of Turkish second-tier side Umraniyespor, who were relegated from the Super Lig last season. After finishing his career, he has been a player-coach at Shanghai Shenhua and then player-manager at Mumbai, as well as a youth coach at Lille and Sporting Director with Hyeres in France.

Johan Elmander

Toulouse - £8.2 million, 2008

Two years after signing Nicolas Anelka for £8 million, Bolton went and broke their club record fee by £200,000 to sign Sweden international Johan Elmander from Ligue 1 side, Toulouse. Elmander had been a part of the Feyenoord side that won the UEFA Cup in 2002 and also won trophies with both Djurgarden and Brondby before back-to-back seasons of scoring 11 in 32 games for Toulouse in France.

He began his Bolton career with a debut goal in a 3-1 defeat of Stoke City but only managed four more goals in his first season before then scoring just three in 25 in the 2009/10 campaign. His best season came in 2010/11 where he scored ten in 37, including a famous solo effort against Wolves at Molineux, but he scored his ninth of those ten goals as early as Boxing Day.

At the end of that season, Elmander departed the club on a free transfer and joined Turkish Super Lig giants, Galatasaray. After two seasons in Turkey, he returned to the Premier League with a loan spell at Norwich before re-signing for Brondby and then finishing his career at Orgryte IS. He scored 20 goals in 85 caps for Sweden and has gone on to live a life outside of football post-playing career.