Bolton Wanderers should embrace high-profile exits – trio should be off the table though | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers should embrace the prospect of high-profile sales this summer but there are some key players that should definitely remain.

As Bolton Wanderers head into another season in League One, the Trotters are embarking upon at least something new, which is Steven Schumacher’s first summer transfer window at the helm, following his appointment in late-January.

The former Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City boss grew increasingly frustrated and bewildered by his teams’ performances in the closing stages of the season, with Wanderers managing to collect just seven points from their final 11 games of the campaign.

Schumacher has discussed the supporters’ desire for an overhaul of the squad but said that would be difficult to do with so many players under contract going into next season.

A few established first-teamers have already been released in their retained list, with former captain Ricardo Santos, vice-captain Gethin Jones and goalkeeper Nathan Baxter among those that will leave the Toughsheet Community Stadium this summer.

However, if Schumacher and the supporters are to get what they want to really shake things up in Lancashire, there is a need for the Whites to embrace some major sales in the market – albeit there are a few that should definitely remain.

High-profile exits a necessity at Bolton

Schumacher, who has been able to bring in former colleague Jimmy Dickinson, who worked with Schumacher at both Bury and Plymouth as Head of Recruitment, and has a new Sporting Director in Fergal Harkin to work with, has lamented the construction of the squad.

He has said that Wanderers will seek to recruit for a different shape next season with the current setup meaning that it is virtually impossible to play a back four to any consistent degree.

That will require bodies coming in, most notably at left-back and in wide positions, but they also currently have just one senior goalkeeper and one senior out-and-out striker at the club – the latter of which being a tactical choice made by the club’s hierarchy in recent transfer windows with the sale of Dion Charles in January and a switch to a 3-4-2-1 or a 3-4-3 last summer.

The club haven’t raised much money during the Football Ventures ownership from player sales, despite key men such as Charles as well as Dapo Afolayan being among those sacrificed for the system of former boss Ian Evatt.

Now is the chance for Wanderers to not necessarily ‘clean house’ but to make some sweeping changes and offers should be entertained for any of the squad – with fans likely to be reasonably content with whoever departs.

The likes of Aaron Collins and John McAtee, who have shown their talent, albeit the latter to a much lesser extent, are likely the most saleable assets at the club, but there has also been interest in the past shown in the likes of Josh Dacres-Cogley and Josh Sheehan.

12 months ago, the departures of Collins and Sheehan in particular would not have been countenanced by the club or the fanbase but, not only would it seem like a reasonable decision right now, it would also appear to be a necessity in order to provide Schumacher with lee-way, both in terms of squad space and funds, to get his own squad on board.

Osei-Tutu, Morley & Thomason must stay

Wanderers supporters would be content with the departures of pretty much any player, but there are a few that have shown signs of being able to compete for the badge, such as Chris Forino and Szabolcs Schon.

Even those, though, have not necessarily shown a consistent level of quality to ensure their departures would be bemoaned by supporters, if they were the subject of interest from elsewhere.

Three players that should be kept on, though, and the club should be extremely reluctant to sell would be club captain George Thomason as well as both Jordi Osei-Tutu and Aaron Morley.

Morley was one of those that had to leave at the whim of Evatt, and he was loaned out to Wycombe Wanderers last summer, playing a starring role for the Chairboys as they topped the league table on New Year’s Day. He himself scored the goal that took them to the top-of-the-table before his recall to the Whites.

In the second-half of the campaign, Morley appeared a much more mature and rounded player than the one that Evatt had struggled to get a tune out of in the year and a half before his loan exit.

Osei-Tutu was signed from Bochum last summer and had struggled with injuries in the first-half of the campaign but did struggle to get into the side on a consistent basis.

Often deployed as a winger under Schumacher, Osei-Tutu perhaps proved that he was simply a very good attacking full-back, lacking the attacking efficiency to consistently play out-wide up-front.

The former Arsenal man, though, offers versatility and an exciting, aggressive and intense attitude when on the ball that makes him a standout as ideally suited to a Schumacher side, although that will have to be from a deeper position than a winger.

Thomason is a player that is often heavily criticised by supporters, but the fact an ambitious Bristol City agreed a fee for the 24-year-old in August 2023 would suggest that he is highly-rated within the EFL.

A determined runner and always aggressive in the tackle, Thomason has also been able to chip in with goals and a genuinely excellent passing range highlights that there is real potential in the box-to-box Barrow-born midfielder.

The harshest critics are likely to be happy to lump him in with the rest of Bolton’s underperforming stars, but there is certainly a higher ceiling to Thomason than most, who has already made 123 appearances for the Trotters.

Wanderers will have to embrace the prospect of selling key players this summer, but it isn’t one that would bother too many supporters – and it could well pave the way for Schumacher to make the changes he desperately needs to make.