New arrival signals end may be in sight for Bolton Wanderers player: View | OneFootball

Ricardo Santos has been a stalwart at the back for Bolton Wanderers since 2020 but the Trotters captain may well be heading for the exit.

After Bolton Wanderers suffered a humbling 2-0 defeat to Oxford United in the League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium last month, supporters became extremely impatient and unhappy with the response of the club and players.

Many will describe it as entitlement, but the fact is that a lot of the social media discourse was with regards to the lack of contrition or any sort of acknowledgment of the defeat from players and other members of staff.

One man that felt the wrath of the fanbase the most was club captain Ricardo Santos, who has been a stalwart for Ian Evatt during Bolton’s rebuilding since 2020 and remains crucial, but has suffered from a dip in form, combined with injuries, for much of this calendar year.

There is now a growing suspicion that the defender who Ian Evatt once, when back in the bottom-half of League Two, described as the best outside the top two tiers in England, may well be on his way out of the door this summer.

Santos replacement already in

On Friday afternoon, Bolton Wanderers announced their first signing of the summer transfer window with the arrival of Chris Forino on a free transfer from Wycombe Wanderers with the central defender signing a three-year deal at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

The 24-year-old, who spent the majority of his youth career at Brentford and was called up to the Saint Lucian national side back in November 2023, stands at 6 ft 3 inches and comes as a ball-playing centre-back with rave reviews from Wycombe supporters that would seemingly rank him alongside Santos.

Wanderers look set to persist with a back three, which means Santos’ spot in the heart of that defence may come under scrutiny, such was his dip in form and also his fairly consistent injury concerns, and Forino may already be the man to take that spot in the Bolton eleven.

Bolton would seemingly like to avoid the challenges they felt in replacing Dapo Afolayan in January 2023 by being proactive and having a ready-made replacement already in the door if there is to be a departure of one of their senior players.

It would seem unlikely that Forino, signing a three-year contract after such an impressive campaign at Adams Park, would be joining a club in the same division to play second fiddle and that would surely only increase the likelihood of Santos’ departure.

Bolton silence speaks volumes

As mentioned, it took a while for anyone from the club to speak out in the aftermath of Bolton’s play-off final loss, but club captain Ricardo Santos has remained silent and there is growing talk from circles within the fanbase that he could well be on his way out this summer.

The 28-year-old Portuguese defender, who joined on a free transfer from Barnet in the summer of 2020, has been linked with moves away in the past and there is still an expectation that if he departs it would be to a Championship club.

For example, Santos has even spoke of having 'other options' but said that they 'weren't for me' back in 2022 when he signed a new three-year deal, but things may well have changed since then and clubs will circle and believe they can get the best out of him - at best that has seen Evatt say he hasn't seen a better defender outside of the Premier League.

However, unlike the last few transfer windows, the thought of losing the former Peterborough United man is not as catastrophic to many Bolton supporters as it may have seemed and with a replacement already through the door, it may well be time for them to part ways.

Another, more conspiratorial conclusion or theory that has been drawn or made in recent weeks would be the lack of commercial activity involving the club captain. For example, front and centre last season, he was nowhere to be seen in Wanderers’ home kit release last week and the fairly emotion-less birthday message sent by the club on Monday, where they did not reference the fact he is captain, which appears unusual, has not gone unnoticed by many.

It would be a sad end to what has been an excellent few seasons for both Santos and Bolton, but there is a general feeling now that he is on his way out in Lancashire.