Azeez in: Bolton Wanderers’ dream XI for next season ft 3 realistic signings | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers lost the League One play-off final 2-0 to Oxford United at Wembley Stadium last month and are now embarking upon what is a rebuild job to try and pick themselves up once again, following successive seasons of play-off heartache.

The Trotters, though, despite some quarters of reactionary support on social media, do not root and branch investigation or revamp into their failures because their failures have been quite obvious for the majority of the calendar year.

With just 11 wins in 29 matches across all competitions in 2024 and that run culminating in Ian Evatt refusing to evolve his system or style even in the latter stages of the play-off final defeat; the key issue here will be to swap the 3-5-2 for a 4-3-3 system – which Bolton have had success under Evatt using, gaining automatic promotion from League Two that way.

​​​​​So, as the Whites look to ‘go again’ for the 2024/25 campaign, this is a look at the dream eleven that Wanderers will field on the opening day of next season with three new additions to get them over the line and take them a step further after finishing third last season.

GK: Nathan Baxter

There is an argument that Bolton Wanderers would have gained automatic promotion to the Championship had Nathan Baxter not suffered an injury in early February that kept him out until early April.

Replacing James Trafford was a difficult job but he did it extremely well and he will be essential to Wanderers’ chances of mounting another push for promotion next season.

RB: Josh Dacres-Cogley

Many Bolton fans were critical of Josh Dacres-Cogley throughout the season but his work ethic and generally good ability got him into the League One Team of the Season and there is an argument that if he had been an out-and-out right-back, rather than tasked with being one of Bolton’s main attacking threats in Evatt’s 3-5-2 then he would also be revered by supporters, rather than questioned.

CB: Eoin Toal

The Northern Ireland international had a difficult final few months but the former Derry City man is a genuinely excellent all-round defender, capable of marauding forward but arguably Wanderers’ best defender, too.

The possibility of a switch to a 4-3-3 would surely see him favoured over club captain Ricardo Santos, even if the Portuguese centre-back remains at the club this summer.

CB: George Johnston

In a pre-season friendly at Bamber Bridge last season George Johnston suffered an ACL injury that saw him miss the entirety of the campaign, just about getting back to training before the play-off final.

The left-footed centre-back, formerly of Liverpool and Feyenoord, had just begun to emerge as one of the league’s best defenders in the 2022/23 campaign and there will be hope he can get back to that level again.

LB: Nicky Cadden

The first new signing for Bolton to try and look at for next season will likely be at strengthening the left-back area with a 4-3-3 meaning Randell Williams becomes more of a winger. Zac Ashworth and Nathanael Ogbeta both departed at the end of their loans and Jack Iredale is yet to convince.

The concern with Nicky Cadden, if Bolton were to make a move for the out-of-contract Barnsley man, would be his ability to adapt to a flat back four with defending not particularly his strongest suit.

CM: Josh Sheehan

Bolton Wanderers’ Player of the Year from last season, Josh Sheehan, recently captained the Welsh national side in their friendly against Gibraltar and will be essential to the Trotters once again.

One difference may be that Sheehan returns to a more advanced role similar to when he first joined in the summer of 2021 and Bolton were playing a 4-3-3. He thrived as a deep-lying playmaker for the Whites but his incision and intricacy should still allow him to excel further up in the attacking third.

CM: Luca Connell

The reason for Sheehan being edged up the pitch would be to accommodate the second of three dream signings this summer in Luca Connell.

The Bolton Wanderers academy graduate left the club at the height of their financial troubles for Celtic and has had an up-and-down relationship with Bolton fans ever since and especially in meetings between Bolton and Barnsley but there does appear to be a softening on both sides and bringing back Connell could take the Trotters to the next level.

CM: George Thomason

Last summer, Bolton agreed a fee with Bristol City over the sale of George Thomason but the youngster turned down the Robins, forced himself into Bolton’s midfield and became a box-to-box fulcrum of the promotion chasers.

Still just 23, Thomason has added goals to his already defensively energetic and robust performances, tempering disciplinary issues too, and has the potential to continue to improve and truly establish himself as one of the best midfielders in League One.

RW: Femi Azeez

The absolute dream signing for Bolton would be Reading attacker Femi Azeez, who will enter the final 12 months of his contract soon.

In a breakthrough season for a Royals side hampered by continued off-field issues, Azeez showed incredible quality in the third-tier last season with his age and general profile of player being a left-footed right-winger absolutely ideal for an Ian Evatt-style 4-3-3 system.

CF: Victor Adeboyejo

This selection is based on the possibility of Dion Charles being sold but also because, after the turn of the year, Victor Adeboyejo, who joined in January 2023, had begun to show real signs of all-round potential.

The former Barnsley man hit double figures last season in an injury-hit campaign but his all-round link-up play and connection with Aaron Collins seemed very promising just before a season-ending hamstring injury in early March.

LW: Aaron Collins

In January, Bolton acquired the 2022/23 League One Player of the Year Aaron Collins for a fee believed to be £750,000 from Bristol Rovers.

The Welshman bedded himself into the new system at the Toughsheet Community Stadium but once his feet were under the table he began to sparkle. The 26-year-old is an absolute gem of a footballer and after six months of getting used to his surroundings should be absolutely instrumental and one of the very best players in the league playing off the left, where he thrived for Bristol Rovers.