Five players that Bolton Wanderers should target in the January transfer window – Do you agree? | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Fan’s Voice’ series, where we gather original opinions from those closest to the clubs concerned on matters surrounding their team and share them with a wider audience…

Bolton Wanderers will be hoping they can put together a positive run of results at the earliest of opportunities in League Two.

The Trotters are currently sat 16th in the fourth-tier standings, but are without a win in their last three league matches. It could be an interesting few weeks ahead, as Ian Evatt looks to add depth to his first-team squad.

Football League World’s Bolton Wanderers fan Danny Bromilow has given us FIVE players that his side should consider targeting before the January transfer window reaches a conclusion.

Find out who the first name on his list is, on the next page….

Disclaimer: The views cast from various supporters in the Fan’s Voice series do not represent those of Football League World.

It’s been well-documented that goalkeeper has been one of our biggest problem positions this year, having signed an untested 20-year old Billy Crellin on loan from Fleetwood as our number one.

Multiple errors led to goalkeeping coach Matt Gilks donning the gloves and seemingly settling the defence down, but he doesn’t seem keen on the job full time.

Whilst signing another untested youngster would seem like the cheaper option, one of the noticeable improvements with Gilks between the sticks has been his communication with the defence, and I believe Elliot’s experience of Premier League football would offer further improvements to the Whites’ defensive line.

Whilst I expect Elliot was on significantly more than our salary-cap could account for in his Newcastle days, he has now been a free agent since the summer.

Should he have the desire for one last crack at success, hopefully we’d be able to come to an agreement that suited both parties, and see us finally have a permanent safe pair of hands between the sticks.

In Eoin Doyle and Nathan Delfouneso, we’ve probably got the best strike pair in League Two. And that’s it.

We were sparse up there already before a season ending injury to Shaun Miller meant it has been over a month since Iain Evatt could name a recognised striker on the bench, which has proven very problematic when trying to change the game.

Dodoo played for Bolton under Keith Hill in the curtailed 2019/20 season, and though he was inconsistent, offered a direct, dynamic attacking style that has been missing this term.

He can also play out wide, offering us even more flexibility, and could just be the spark off the bench that we’ve been missing.

I honestly have no idea if this one is far-fetched or not. The Republic of Ireland international has become somewhat of a journeyman in recent years but his goal record in Scotland (and Azerbaijan) speaks for itself, and any striker with 164 goals from just over 400 games certainly knows where the back of the net is.

Stokes’ last club was Livingston, and so I doubt we’d be too far away in terms of wages, so it would be great to see Stokes join the project of restoring Bolton Wanderers to former glories and scoring goals along the way.

I’m dubious as to whether he could be tempted to move south of Scotland, although the rumour is he left Livingston because he didn’t like training on the artificial pitch, which isn’t a problem he’d have with Ian Evatt’s men.

It looks like we may be switching our playing style to a more conventional 4-3-3, but our squad is very light in terms of conventional wingers.

Without knowing the ins and outs of the reasons for his departure from Cardiff last year (aside from his Instagram post which seemed to suggest some personal battles), I cannot fathom how this guy is still a free agent.

I saw more of him whilst at Rochdale than Cardiff, but he just seems to love running past players, and coupled with a physique that makes it impossible to push him off the ball, he would be a very dangerous signing in League Two.

If we could convince him to make a comeback and get him fit, he could be exactly what we need in terms of someone to carry the ball up the pitch and draw opposition players out of position, which we are crying out for. I don’t think I’m the only Bolton fan who would be absolutely delighted if we could pull this off.

If we want to play out from the back, we need a new left-sided centre half. Last season’s loanee Kean Bryan of Sheffield United would be absolutely perfect for this role, but I think expecting a player of his quality and composure to drop down to League 2 is at this point a pipe dream.

Therefore, having seen how well he handled himself against Liverpool in the FA cup, Mungo Bridge may be able to fit the bill. Albeit the only game I’ve seen him play, he was aggressive in trying to win the ball back, and didn’t panic when he recovered it.

He also seems to possess a yard of pace that we’re lacking, and hopefully Villa would be willing to let him leave for half a season, as despite the bright debut, I doubt he’s ready for the Premier League on a regular basis.

The only issue with getting a deal over the line is that following his performance against the champions, I’m probably not the only one thinking this.