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Wanderers have no immediate plans to speak with Dapo Afolayan about a new contract at the University of Bolton Stadium.
The former West Ham attacker’s current deal expires in the summer of 2024, but Ian Evatt’s short-term attention is on the raft of first team players who will become free agents this summer.
The likes of MJ Williams, Josh Sheehan, Amadou Bakayoko, Elias Kachunga and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson have contracts which run until next June.
Afolayan was linked with a number of clubs during the transfer window after finishing last season as Bolton’s top scorer but Evatt is relaxed about tying him down to a longer deal for now.
“Not yet, Dapo has got two years left, so we are comfortable with where we are at with him,” he said. “Obviously, I think there are 10 other players out of contract in the summer, and we are not ready to make decisions on many of those yet because this is a big season and we want to see where we end up at the end of it.
“For now, if there is something that we need to do, and we feel is the right thing to do, then we will do it.
“But we are comfortable with where we are at right now, so we will see.”
Afolayan and club captain Ricardo Santos often found themselves in the centre of transfer speculation over the summer but, says Evatt, have given him no reason to believe they wanted to leave Wanderers.
Bolton finished off a relatively low key window with the loan signing of Liverpool’s Owen Beck on Wednesday – and Evatt feels the settled mood within his squad will be of huge benefit to their promotion ambitions this season.
“We are in a good place,” he said. “And I think it is proved by the fact I have had no rumblings from the players that they want to leave. I have had no players coming to me saying ‘this club is not for me, I want to move on’ - not one.
“It shows we’re doing the right things on and off the pitch, which is great.”
Three of Bolton’s five deals during the summer window were loans from Premier League clubs – Beck and Conor Bradley from Liverpool, and James Trafford from Manchester City.
The policy has been questioned in some quarters, with suggestion it may impede the development of contracted players and ultimately the aim to become a financially sustainable club.
Evatt feels he has the right blend, and believes that his club is being targeted for such deals because of an improving reputation in the game.
“If they fit culturally, they come into our salary bracket, and we think we are going to have to spend limited time coaching them and bringing them up to speed then we will do because we think they will improve us,” he said of bringing aboard top-flight loans.
“This is where I take great heart that we are doing the right things and we are on the right path because of those types of deals, but also the deals we were being offered from other clubs that recognised how we are playing and what we are doing.
“These players that you think would be out of our reach want to come and play here, regardless of dropping down two divisions, they are still happy to come to Bolton Wanderers and that is massive credit to the fans and the history of the club.
“It is also credit to the way we are playing and how we are being coached. We are gaining a reputation of being a good football club, and that is what we all want.”
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