Bolton Wanderers will have key concern at Wrexham AFC done deal | OneFootball

Wrexham have swooped to sign free agent and former Bolton man Jon Dadi Bodvarsson who they hope will boost their promotion hopes

The race for the League One automatic promotion spots looks to be a wide open one this season, with a cluster of sides all jostling for a top-two finish.

The embarrassment of riches Birmingham City have at their disposal muddies the waters somewhat, with many assuming they're a shoo-in for one of the top two spots. That leaves the other promotion hopefuls seemingly battling it out for the remaining spot.

The managers of each club in the chasing pack behind Birmingham likely won't acknowledge that they'll take some overthrowing this season, but the general consensus is that one of the automatic promotion spots is already spoken for.

Two of those clubs battling it out for a top-two finish are Bolton Wanderers and Wrexham, but it's the newly-promoted Welsh side who have the edge currently, sitting two points clear of the Trotters.

Bolton agonisingly missed out on promotion through the play-offs last season, slumping to a Wembley defeat against Oxford United, but this season, it could be something now entirely out of their hands which consigns them to another season in League One.

Wrexham made a shrewd move to sign Bodvarsson

The Icelandic striker was released by Bolton in the summer, bringing the curtain down on a two-and-a-half-year spell in the North West.

Although a lot of Bolton fans will tell you he underwhelmed at times, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson scored 25 times for Ian Evatt’s side across three seasons to help them finish in the top 10 in his debut campaign before playing his part as they delivered back-to-back play-off finishes and reached the 2023 EFL Trophy final.

The 32-year-old Bodvarsson has won 64 international caps for Iceland, so his pedigree is unmatched in League One, but having not played any football yet this season, his match fitness will take some working on, and Wrexham fans may not see the best of him for quite some time.

Bolton fans will argue that they're not sure what the best side of him is, as he scored a mere 14 goals in 78 League One appearances for the club.

But in the case of this transfer, it's not so much about what he's no longer bringing to Bolton, it's about what he brings to Wrexham.

Bolton may live to regret allowing Bodvarsson to sign for a promotion rival

Bolton boss Ian Evatt would probably have got a lump in his throat when he saw Bodvarsson signed for Wrexham last week.

Football very often works in mysterious ways, and some would argue that it would be poetic justice for Bolton to allow Bodvarsson to leave, sign for a direct promotion rival, and then have the impact which means his former employers miss out.

It perhaps won't work out that way, as Bodvarsson only signed a deal until January, so he'll first have to prove his worth to have a big enough say in the promotion race.

With injuries to George Evans, Jack Marriott and Steven Fletcher, Bodvarsson will have to prove himself almost straight away as he may be thrust into the side sooner rather than later, so Bolton may be thanking their lucky stars they don't play Wrexham again until March.

But if he does manage to hit the ground running, then that will still have a direct impact on Bolton's promotion push, as they're already trying to claw the Welsh side back, so the big concern for the Trotters now is how Bodvarsson takes to life across the border.