Exclusive: Bolton Wanderers backed to seal "fantastic" deal for Championship star by Sky pundit | OneFootball

The midfielder has serious Championship pedigree behind him.

Bolton Wanderers have been urged to push for a move for Preston North End midfielder Ryan Ledson following reports linking them to the 27-year-old.

Ledson's time as a Lilywhite will come to an end this summer as he embarks on a new journey in his footballing career. He has been with Preston for nearly seven years, but, after a season in which he only started just over half of the club's league games, the grass looks greener elsewhere.

Bolton are interested in signing him, according to the Daily Record, as are Scottish side Hibernian, Huddersfield Town, Oxford United - who he played for before joining North End - and Plymouth Argyle.

Ryan Ledson would be a brilliant pick-up for Bolton Wanderers

Steven Schumacher will have a tough job convincing Ledson to drop a level and play at the Toughsheet Community Stadium going forward, especially when options like staying in the Championship with Oxford or getting to play European football with Hibs are on the table. If Wanderers do manage to pull a deal off, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie believes it will be a brilliant addition.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World about the possibility of the 27-year-old joining Wanderers, Hendrie said: "Bolton are prepared to sign Preston's Ryan Ledson. My thoughts on that are I think he'd be a really good signing for Bolton, I really do.

"Steven Schumacher has got so many ideas, good ideas, he's a very good coach/manager and I think the experience of Ledson going in there would be a fantastic signing."

After Bolton failed to reach the play-offs this season, finishing eighth in the League One table, Schumacher admitted that he couldn't wait to rebuild the team over the summer. The club announced earlier in May that upcoming free agents Nathan Baxter, Joel Coleman, Gethin Jones and Ricardo Santos would not be offered new deals by the club and will leave on a free this summer.

On what he is looking to add to the Bolton squad this summer, Schumacher revealed he wants players with the right attitude, personality and character, ones that are going to work hard and follow the manager's instructions on the pitch. This came after he stated that the players he worked with at the end of this term didn't have the "mentality to get promoted."

This summer will reveal all about Schumacher's future plans for Bolton Wanderers

Schumacher isn't going to be fussing over things like the budget he has, new sporting director Fergal Harkin will deal with that sort of stuff. But you can see from his quotes that he is going to play an active role in recruitment.

He's not had any opportunities, really, to add personnel to this team since he was appointed at the end of January. This summer will give us a first glimpse as to which direction he wants to take this squad in.