Hull and Swansea City place Bolton Wanderers hot-shot on transfer radar | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers are one of the favourites to win promotion from League One to the Championship this season, and should they earn a return to the second tier of English football it would be their first time at the level in five years.

And should that happen, then one of the main reasons they will be back there is the goalscoring form of Dion Charles.

The Northern Ireland international has been a prolific scorer since his addition to the Trotters squad from Accrington Stanley in January 2022, scoring eight times in his first half-season with Wanderers and then netting 17 league goals in 2022-23 as they reached the play-off semi-finals.

Charles picked up where he left off from last season and just halfway through the campaign, he is closing in on equalling his tally from 2022-23 with 13 goals in just 23 appearances so far, although he has netted just twice in his last seven appearances.

According to information from The Bolton News, two Championship sides have been scouting Charles recently in the form of Swansea City and Hull City.

Scouts from both sides were in attendance to watch Charles against Fleetwood Town on Friday night in Bolton's final match of 2023, and they were probably impressed as he got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory for the Trotters.

Bolton boss Ian Evatt has not completely shut the door on a Charles departure in January, with most League One clubs needing to trade players to keep self-sufficient, but he has stated that it would take a ridiculous offer for Wanderers to part with their talisman, especially when they are in a promotion battle.

But Hull or Swansea could be potentially a head-turner for Charles, who has not played Championship football in his career and is now at the age of 28.

Bolton should stand firm on Charles amid Championship interest

Bolton are now in a prime position to reach the Championship once more, and they can simply not afford to lose their best striker at this time of the season.

They are in a safe place when it comes to his future as he is under contract until the summer of 2026 which was only signed back in August, so you'd have to imagine that Charles is pretty settled and since he's from Preston, he's also in the area he grew up in as well.

Promotion to Bolton will bring in millions more pounds in revenue, which means Charles' price-tag to the club is probably raised now and into the £4 million to £5 million range - that would surely be a price that Hull or Swansea will not be willing to pay.

At the age of 28, Charles is likely not going to get any better than he currently is now, and there's no guarantee either that he will be able to make the step up to the Championship, so it would be a surprise if he were to depart this month.