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Wanderers hope to cash-in on their global reputation in January, once they have wrapped their head around the recent changes to work permit rules in the EFL.
Clubs have been informed this summer that they can theoretically sign two players outside the traditional legislations, following an agreement between the Home Office and the Football Association.
The new criteria opens up new markets – a premise that excites Bolton boss Evatt, who will be boosting his recruitment department this summer as a result.
Wanderers have a rich history of scouring the globe for stars, and as a result they have built-up pockets of fans in places that many clubs of similar size can only dream of.
Evatt does not want to rush in. But the groundwork is now being done on selected leagues to see if signings could be made by the winter.
“It is very early on in the window – and the way the rules have changed now allows us to look worldwide,” Evatt said. “It is literally a whole new window for us.
“That is a process. We are not just going to go and sign someone from the Japanese or the Dutch league, we have to make sure those processes are in place, our information is correct, to get the best for the money we want to spend.
“I think it is really exciting.”
Wanderers have concentrated their scouting on the United Kingdom over the last few years, with a few exceptions, including George Johnston, who had been playing in Holland with Feyenoord, and former loanee Xavier Amaechi, who had been in Germany.
Historically the club was at the vanguard of the Premier League’s foreign revolution, and Evatt hopes the legacy of that era could make it easier for the club to attract players from further afield.
“This rule change is huge, especially for a club of our size,” he said. “That is the key thing here.
“Trying to get foreign players to come over in League One would be challenging but being Bolton Wanderers, the size of the club, the size of the fanbase, the players who have played here, everyone knows about this club. They know who we are.
“That might make things a little easier.
“In the short-term I don’t think it will benefit us because I don’t want to take a risk and sign someone from, for instance, Japan or Holland, leagues who we think have technical quality and deep pools of talent for someone like us.
“We need to make sure that the work is being done, the data is being done, the processes are correct, and then potentially we can look in January to take advantage of something like that.”
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