Football League World
·15 July 2024
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·15 July 2024
Bolton Wanderers have ended their pursuit of Peterborough United's Joel Randall after seeing bids rejected.
Bolton Wanderers have pulled out of the race to sign Peterborough United midfielder Joel Randall.
That is according to Football Insider, who have revealed that after seeing multiple bids rejected for the 24-year-old, the Trotters have decided to move onto other targets both domestically and abroad.
The Greater Manchester outfit will be looking to strengthen once again in this transfer window as they try to bridge that gap to achieving promotion to the Championship.
Bolton will embark on their fourth consecutive season in League One this season, having just fallen short in the last two campaigns in terms of promotion.
The 2023/24 season was the closest the club has got to reaching the Championship in recent years, and the pressure is on Ian Evatt now to succeed this time around.
Therefore, he will be looking for new arrivals to freshen up his squad, and it appeared at the start of this month that Peterborough’s Randall was someone the club was keen on signing, but that appears unlikely now.
It was reported by Football Insider at the end of last month that Bolton Wanderers had seen a six-figure offer rejected by Peterborough for midfield maestro Randall.
The report stated at the time that the Trotters were planning on making a second, improved offer for the midfielder as they look to strengthen their promotion bid.
Randall only has one year remaining on his current contract at Peterborough, so it was likely that Bolton were testing their fellow League One side's resolve.
However, in a fresh update from Football Insider, Bolton have now ended their pursuit of the 24-year-old.
The report states that Wanderers have seen multiple bids rejected, and they have now moved on from Randall onto other potential targets, both domestically and abroad, as they look to improve their squad.
Peterborough are said to be reluctant to sell Randall to a club seen as a direct rival for promotion, especially after Randall was a key player under Darren Ferguson.
Posh signed Randall for £1 million in the summer of 2021 from Exeter City, and this report states they will demand north of that now, even though he has one year left on his contract.
Randall joined Peterborough in 2021 from Exeter City after only playing 44 times for the Grecians, with Posh gambling on his potential.
In his first two seasons at London Road, Randall had to be patient when it came to game-time, as he played just 11 games in his first campaign, then just 10 times in League One the following season, due to a mixture of injuries and not being favoured.
However, his importance grew exponentially last season, as he played 43 times in League One as Peterborough reached the play-offs.
During that time, Randall scored 10 goals in the league and provided seven assists, as he became one of the club’s most attacking threats.
Bolton are obviously in the market for a new attacking midfielder, and Randall was among the names under consideration.
That is because Randall did ever so well last season in League One, and given he is in the final year of his deal, Bolton would have been hoping to get him out of Peterborough on the cheap.
However, the Posh are standing their ground and are only willing to sell him for a similar price that they paid three years ago. Therefore, it is no surprise that Bolton have moved on, as the Trotters cannot afford to spend that much money on one single player in this transfer window.
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