Bolton Wonderers Boss Spoke: I Have Worked Very “Tirelessly” On Another Deal But…

Bolton Wonderers Boss Spoke: I Have Worked Very “Tirelessly” On Another Deal But…

Bolton Wanderers: Ian Evatt “worked extremely hard” for Man United deal and were left disappointed

In the January transfer window of 2023, Bolton Wanderers sold star player Dapo Afolayan to then German second-division club St Pauli.

The Trotters’ overarching goal that season was promotion, and they were in the hunt for it at that stage, so required some incoming deals before the end of the month to boost their chances of a top six finish or even pushing towards the top two and an extremely competitive automatic promotion race.

Victor Adeboyejo was brought in from Burton Albion for a fee believed to be the same as what Wanderers sold Afolayan for, as well as bringing in Cameron Jerome on a free transfer from Luton Town, Randell Williams for an undisclosed fee from Hull City and Luke Mbete on loan from Manchester City.

The one really exciting piece of business done to try and replace the creative spark of Afolayan was the arrival of Shola Shoretire on loan from Manchester United – one that Evatt himself seemed personally excited about.

Speaking to the club website after Shoretire’s signing, the Bolton boss revealed his high hopes for the loanee and that the club had put in the hard yards to sign him.

He said: “It offers us something different. We need different things to win different football matches, especially when teams are in that low block.

“We need someone that can receive centrally, win a one-v-one duel and create, whether it be a pass or a cross or a finish.

“We feel Shola can do that so I’m very excited to have him here.”

Evatt added: “He’s a player I’ve been aware of an admired for a long time. We’ve worked extremely hard to get him here.

“Getting any young player who is as highly thought of as Shola is and around Manchester United’s first team isn’t going to be easy.

“But Manchester United trust us with what we’re doing and have seen what’s happened with Conor Bradley and James Trafford, for instance.

“We’re delighted to have him and I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

However, after a bright start to his Bolton career and a belief he would surpass what Afolayan brought to the table, things turned out badly very quickly.

Bright start for Shoretire at the Toughsheet

On debut, Shoretire had to play a different role to what he was brought in to do as he played a defensive style as ten-man Bolton, who had Dion Charles mistakenly sent off after 28 minutes, edged past Forest Green Rovers by a goal to nil.