How close Bolton Wanderers are to signing Celtic and Charlton Athletic players | OneFootball

They are having a tough time finding the right goalscorer for them in this window.

Bolton Wanderers haven't made much progress in their pursuit of striker targets Gassan Ahadme and Johnny Kenny.

Adding to Steven Schumacher's list of number nines has been a well-known priority for the Trotters over recent weeks. A hamstring injury suffered by early addition Sam Dalby combined with some exits left Bolton short of goalscorers.

Their starting centre-forward on the opening day of the season, Mason Burstow, only linked up with the Lancashire side within a week of their 2-0 loss to Stockport County.

While Dalby is expected to return to action soon, that hasn't dampened Wanderers' desire to bring in some competition for him and the Hull City loanee. Unfortunately, two of their prime targets, Ahadme and Kenny, are no closer to joining the League One side than they were previously, as per the Bolton News.

It was reported last week by Alan Nixon that they were thinking about going back in for a second attempt to sign the former. A £500,000 gap in valuation between Bolton and Celtic has made a deal for the latter a difficult one to complete.

Bolton struggling to add to goalscoring options

Luckily Burstow has impressed since arriving. His hold-up and link-up abilities were clear for all to see against the Hatters, plus his physical transformation compared to the last time he played in League One for Charlton Athletic as an 18-year-old.

He got off the mark for the club at home against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, slotting home a simple first-time finish thanks to some nice movement inside the box.

His emergence as a more than adequate first-choice talisman, and Dalby's comeback, has relieved some of the pressure on Schumacher and co to find another striker ASAP amid the club's struggles with securing one of their two named targets.

"Sam is on his way back and will train minimal contact on Monday and Tuesday, full contact on Thursday and Friday, so we'll build him up.

"Now, he’s going to need games because he hasn't played any in pre-season, so he is going to take a bit of time, but he will be available in the coming weeks. And in the meantime, we'll keep looking for that other one that I think we need.

"As of now there’s nothing to report on that front. But we knew when we signed Mason he can be a good player for us.

"He is strong, technically really good, he was in the right area for his goal, and it was a good finish because it wasn't an easy delivery. If we can have two or three strikers that can all contribute, then we'll be in a good place."

Bolton can't rush their striker search - they already have good options

Soon enough, as long as the 22-year-old loanee's form doesn't drop off a cliff, Schumacher will have two solid striker options to choose from. In that scenario, they can afford to be more picky about the players they go after, and the ones that they have been linked with, while they have potential, are by no means proven entities.

Kenny has less than 10 first-team appearances for Celtic under his belt, so Bolton would be buying the 22-year-old purely for his potential. That's not a totally bad thing - he is very well thought of by their manager, Brendan Rodgers - it might not be the best use of what could be £1 million, if they folded to the Scottish side's demands.

Charlton Athletic's Moroccan attacker isn't exactly experiencing a purple patch in his career either. Since being bought by the Addicks last summer from Ipswich Town for a seven-figure fee, Ahadme has only scored four goals in all competitions.