Bolton Wanderers should make Man United move after play-off final defeat: View | OneFootball

In recent seasons, as Bolton Wanderers attempt to rebuild themselves back towards the Championship and beyond, they have used the loan market to their advantage.

Players such as James Trafford, Conor Bradley, Paris Maghoma and Dapo Afolayan have all enjoyed stints in Lancashire that have served them well for their future career and Ian Evatt, as well as Chris Markham, will hope to do the same again this time around.

The play-off final defeat to Oxford United at the weekend means things remain quite raw for many supporters but there is a chance to set themselves and go again, challenging for the second-tier and not fading away so dramatically as they did in the 2023/24 campaign.

Rediscovering the link to local rivals Manchester United could be one avenue to success and a not-so wild shout that may indeed perfectly suit their next promotion challenge would be an ambitious move for Omari Forson.

Bolton need a change in shape and the handbrake off

Wanderers were automatically promoted from League Two playing a 4-3-3 system and the expectation, or at least the hope, is that Ian Evatt will be inclined to switch to that formation once again, as he has said it is his preferred choice.

In the summer of 2021, following their promotion, Bolton went after another young English starlet with a similar profile to Omari Forson in Xavier Amaechi on loan from Hamburg but injuries hampered his time at the club.

That left Evatt and Bolton without something they craved and needed to play the 4-3-3: a left-footed right-winger. Now, Omari Forson fits the bill in that regard and would open up the possibilities to be far more tactically flexible than they have been.

With 11 victories in 29 matches across all competitions since New Year’s Day, the inability to meaningfully change personnel or shape in attack hurt Wanderers and Forson would add a different dimension and one that the Whites did, once upon a time, plan for.

Bolton have established Man United relationship

The suggestion that Forson could move slightly north to the Toughsheet Community Stadium is not entirely outlandish either, when you consider Wanderers’ recent dealings with United.

In 2021, they pursued Anthony Elanga but the Sweden international managed to just about breakthrough into the United first-team at the wrong time for Ian Evatt and they were also recently linked with Dan Gore. One move that did come to fruition was Shola Shoretire, who joined on loan in January 2022 and started well before fading quite quickly.

Forson has already played at Wanderers’ ground and scored the only United goal in what was an 8-1 hammering at the hands of the eventual quarter-finalists in last season’s EFL Trophy.

He also made seven first-team appearances for Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils last season with a start in the Premier League, as well as coming off the bench at Wembley in their FA Cup semi-final victory over Coventry City in April.

Wanderers have big decisions to make and choices to look at and if the intention is to switch the system back to a 4-3-3, as many fans crave, then dipping back into the Manchester United academy could be a goldmine.