Free agent reveal is evidence of Bolton Wanderers’ transfer failures: View | OneFootball

The potential arrival of a free agent at Bolton is an acceptance recruitment didn't go exactly to plan with Wanderers dealing with issues in the squad

In the early stages of the September international break, it has already been reported and suggested that Bolton Wanderers will be looking to add a new free agent signing before their next league game.

Ian Evatt has said that he hopes there will be news to come ‘early next week’, so speculation has begun on just who that could be but, regardless of who it is, many supporters won’t be able to shake the notion that this stems from a disorganised and ill-fated summer transfer window.

Whilst Evatt has stressed the Trotters hierarchy are calm about it, and even said as much as to why they didn’t rush through the deal before the end of last month because they are not bound by the constraints of the transfer window, it still does suggest the plan for this summer has not come off when you are relying on out of contract players post-transfer window to pad out the squad - especially when that has not once happened during Evatt’s reign at Wanderers or Director of Football Chris Markham’s time at the club either.

Bolton Wanderers: Ian Evatt's tactical tweaks are failing to pay off

At the start of this summer, Evatt suggested he wanted to be tactically flexible this season, and that Bolton Wanderers would recruit for that to give them different solutions and possibilities.

The likes of Klaidi Lolos, Scott Arfield and John McAtee all arrived with a view to Wanderers playing with two ‘number tens’ behind a striker, with that number nine being Dion Charles.

The issue for the Trotters, though, is that injuries have already prompted Evatt to revert to the 3-5-2 after just the fifth game of the season, because the depth and tactical tweaks that Evatt wanted simply haven’t been recruited for well enough.

Wanderers had seven players fighting it out for two starting spots last season and, once again, despite a turnover in the squad, they have seven players fighting it out in attack but, this time, for three spots in the starting 11.

There is no way of switching the system to a back four now either without playing a right-back or centre-back out of position at left-back, due to the sale of Jack Iredale to Hibernian.

The fact that Bolton are looking at a free agent over the September international break, as Evatt has suggested, clearly shows that Bolton do not have the squad in the shape they wanted it to be in at this stage after the summer transfer window and there is now an air of desperation.

Lack of depth could harm Bolton Wanderers in the weeks to come

Injuries have brought about issues in terms of the teething issues with new tactical shapes and plans, as Evatt complained about during pre-season this summer.

However, the fact of the matter is that Wanderers haven’t filled gaps in the squad that needed to be filled, and have even now created gaps, with slow recruitment leaving a lack of depth in attack when there are just a couple of injuries.

And the sale of Iredale means any injury or suspension to George Johnston puts Bolton back in the same position of a right footer at left centre-back, which was clearly detrimental to their build-up play in the second-half of last season.

Bolton’sDirector of Football Chris Markham gave an interview to Sky Sports in mid-August when signings were flooding through the door as they made four in a week in the week leading up to the start of the 2024-25 season.

However, now the transfer window has closed, Wanderers appear light in a few key areas, and targeting a free agent to try and deal with issues would suggest an acceptance and admittance that things didn’t go to plan.

Patience from supporters was always going to be thin, and talk of multiple seven-figure bids in for players, only for no player to arrive for over £1 million, starting as poorly as they have and now desperately scrambling to fill gaps that they have created has only made supporters lose even more patience.