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Ian Evatt anticipates his work in the transfer market this summer will be more complicated as he targets a higher level of signing.
Wanderers have already brought four new players aboard in Nathan Baxter, Joel Coleman, Josh Dacres-Cogley and Dan Nlundulu but are far from finished on the recruitment front.
Deals for Bristol City’s Kane Wilson and St Mirren’s Keanu Baccus were shelved, however, setting the club back slightly as they prepare for another season in League One.
Evatt remains pragmatic and expects there to be some bumps in the road when he is looking to take other clubs’ assets.
He said: “We are in a difficult scenario where we have moved past the free agent market and we are looking to improve by taking players from other clubs – and that means fees are involved and negotiations, not only with the players but the selling club too. It takes time so we need an air of patience and we are working really hard.
“We are in a really good place and the ones we have done so far I am delighted with because they have started well and settled really well, especially over here in Portugal.”
Wanderers are in Portugal on a pre-season training camp and will return at the end of the week to build towards a first friendly game at Bamber Bridge on Saturday, July 8.
Evatt wants to use every moment he can on the training ground and has scheduled sessions early in the morning and in the evening to avoid the hottest temperatures on The Algarve.
The Bolton boss believes the next few weeks will be vitally important for players like Nlundulu, who found themselves playing catch-up after signing in January.
“Pre-season is a real key block of time for Dan – and not just him but for some of the January recruits as well,” he said. “Some of them, and they will be the first to admit this, but have not hit the heights we know they can get to yet.
“Not that they have under-performed but not to the level I know they can be. And this block of time to coach them, ingrain the philosophy and what we want from them, it is really hard to do in-season when you are playing Saturday-Tuesday because time on the grass is really limited.
“It is this time now that we can get tactical and technical detail into the players.
“Dan needs to be fitter but he has so many tools and he is an exciting talent. He needs a home and Bolton is now his home, so hopefully we can now improve him and unlock all that untapped potential.”
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