Bolton Wanderers have enjoyed a solid first season back in League One, with Ian Evatt’s side currently sat in 11th place of the table.
Bolton Wanderers have enjoyed spells of good form and spells of bad form upon their return to the third tier of English football.
Recently though, Evatt’s men have been on a good run of form. His side have kept themselves in and around the top half since the turn of the year and have even given themselves a sniff of the top-six, although that seems like a far-fetched possibility now.
Nevertheless, hopes and expectations will be high ahead of the next season, and here we take a look at how the Trotters’ starting XI could change ahead of the next campaign.
Bolton have a really strong spine at the moment, consisting of James Trafford in goal and Ricardo Santos at the back, the likes of Jordan Williams and Aaron Morley in the middle and then Dapo Afolayan and Dion Charles further up.
Trafford though is set to return to parent club Manchester City in the summer. Afolayan has recently been linked with a move to Fulham and elsewhere, the likes of Kieran Lee are out of contract and Santos is entering the final year of his deal.
There could be a lot of work to do to the current crop of player in the summer in terms of contract negotiations.
Evatt will certainly need to bring in a replacement for Trafford who has been a standout player so far this season, and Afolayan would also need replacing should he earn himself a move further up the Football League in the summer.
But one potential arrival at Bolton this summer could be Marlon Fossey – the man on loan from Fulham has been impressive since joining in January, and Evatt is confident that he can re-sign the American in the summer.
Elsewhere, the likes of Charles and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson have formed a strong partnership up top and so that looks set to be the same going into the next season, whilst Declan John has the left wing-back position nailed down after an impressive campaign with Kieran Sadlier proving a useful addition on the right.
For Trotters fans, what to expect this summer is anyone’s guess. The squad doesn’t need too much changing but to keep up with the pace, quality additions will be needed.
Bolton return to action against Wigan Athletic this weekend.
