Ian Evatt says Bolton Wanderers are playing the “long game” with transfer business this summer as they look to launch a fresh pursuit on promotion this season.
The Wanderers narrowly missed out on a place in the Championship last season, losing in the play-off final to Des Buckingham’s Oxford United. With League One looking stronger than ever, Bolton feel they need more bodies in the dressing room.
The Trotters have brought in the likes of Luke Southwood, Chris Forino, Scott Arfield and Kladi Lolos in the transfer window so far, but with a lengthy injury list, Ian Evatt seems as if he is looking to bring more players in to add strength in depth, and also some competition.
With the EFL kicking off in just under three weeks, Bolton have seemingly looked to challenge themselves, with games played against both West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough, with two more friendlies coming up against Fiorentina and Stoke City.
Evatt will hope that he can get the right players in before the deadline and before the season starts in the hopes of boosting Bolton’s promotion chances back to the second tier of English football. However, he faces some difficulty with the Wanderers’ change in transfer policy.
Speaking to Bolton News, the 42-year-old manager claimed
“Recruitment has been hard. And it has changed so much for us.
“We have gone from dealing with free transfers and loans, primarily, to trying to buy people’s best players. And, unsurprisingly, they want to hang on to them.
“We have to play the long game. It isn’t what we have been used to because normally we have the squad in place for the start of pre-season, but maybe this is another part of our evolution. I can promise we are working very hard to bring the right ones in. We know who we are targeting and we’re working all the time to get things done but there are anomalies, like some of the players are involved in European qualification. Teams want to hang on to their better players to try and get them that bit further into the competition they are in.
“It is tough playing the waiting game. If we didn’t have the injuries we do right now then we would still be able to field two very competitive teams and it would all feel a bit easier”
