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Wanderers have rewarded five young players with their first professional deal at the club.
Academy graduates Max Conway, Elis Litherland, Lamine Toure, Arran Pettifer and Matty Tweedley have signed senior contracts ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Highly rated full-back Conway trained with the first team at the end of last season and has been tipped to make a breakthrough this season under Ian Evatt.
Goalkeeper Litherland split his time last season between the Under-19s and the reserve team and could now play a part in the B Team squad, managed by Matt Craddock.
Toure, a powerful defender with an eye for goal, has been another regular for the reserves over the last 12 months.
Midfielders Pettifer and Tweedley were pushed into the first team squad last term, both featuring against Fleetwood in the Papa John’s Trophy.
Stockport-born Pettifer also appeared in a group stage game against Liverpool’s Under-21s.
“Congratulations to them all," said first team boss Ian Evatt. "Gaining a first professional contract is a big step in a young player’s career.
“It’s well deserved for each of them and now they have to build on that and make the most of the opportunities they are given.
“We very much want to produce our own players from within the Academy and with the changes we have made this summer, including the introduction of the ‘B’ team, that pathway is clearly open for home-grown talent to develop, progress and hopefully make an impact at Bolton Wanderers.”
Meanwhile, Wanderers fans may be able to breathe a sigh of relief after a series of media reports have claimed that Liam Rosenior will become the new manager of Blackpool.
Bookies have closed the market on the Derby County assistant succeeding Neil Critchley at Bloomfield Road, although local media claim that an official announcement will not happen until the middle of the week.
Ian Evatt had been strongly linked with a return to his former club in some quarters, although The Bolton News understands no contact was made by the Championship club.
Michael Duff was also interviewed by Blackpool and has since agreed to leave Cheltenham Town to take charge of Barnsley.
Evatt will welcome most of his squad back to the training ground at the end of this week for testing before flying out to Portugal for a warm weather training camp.
It is not yet known whether Dion Charles or Amadou Bakayoko will be among the group, with both players having featured regularly in recent international games for Northern Ireland and Sierra Leone, respectively.
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