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Wanderers boss Ian Evatt is delighted to have secured the long-term future of midfielder George Thomason.
The youngster has put pen to paper over a deal which runs until 2025, with the option for a further 12 months.
Thomason had become a regular starter in League One prior to his recent knee injury, and Evatt has been pleased with his development.
“He is a young player who has had a lot of progression and development since I’ve been at the club,” said the Bolton chief.
“This year - probably more than the season we got promoted - has been a breakout year for him where he has cemented himself really in the first team fold and played to a very high standard on a consistent basis.
“His contract was up at the end of the season and historically he was still on one of those ‘young contracts’ - that transition between being an academy and first team footballer.
“One thing that myself and the ownership group here have always spoken about is once they are producing the goods and we feel the need, they should be rewarded regardless of if it is the end of their contract.
“We feel George was at that time where he deserved to be more in line with what our first team bracket looks like.”
Thomason has come a long way since joining Wanderers from Longridge Town back in 2019, and Evatt has “high hopes” for what he can achieve.
He reckons the 21-year-old is becoming an old school leader on the pitch and praised his desire to keep learning.
He added: “He is a very young footballer and he still has a lot to learn, but one of George’s main assets is his attitude and mindset. He wants to learn, he’s always asking questions.
“He has leadership qualities which I feel are going out of the game at the moment. You don’t see young players have that type of leadership – not just leading by example with his performances but also vocally. He is happy to do that for such a young player.
“And technically, he can do everything. The one thing that was a question mark for me before this season was possibly the physical element.
“He was a tall, wiry kid but he has lived in the gym, and now he is a real physical specimen and has developed into an all-action midfield player. He has a long way to go but we have high hopes for him.”
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