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Wanderers are on the verge of landing Swansea defender Nathaniel Ogbeta.
The former Manchester City trainee, who can play as a wing-back or left-sided centre half, has recently returned to contention in the Championship after a quad injury.
Several sources at last night's FA Cup game between Bournemouth and Swansea - which ended 5-0 - confirmed that Ogbeta had been cleared to join Bolton.
He played in League One for Shrewsbury Town for two seasons, making 58 appearances and scoring twice, before being signed by Swansea for a reported fee of £300,000 in January 2022.
A lack of game in South Wales led to a loan move to Peterborough United – back in League One – which proved a successful one until injury cut it short in late April last year. Local reports also claim that Posh tried to take him back on loan this month.
The Salford-born 22-year-old has represented England at youth level and it is hoped the deal will be completed in time for him to face Carlisle United on Saturday.
Randell Williams has been ruled out for several weeks with a hamstring injury at Wanderers, and with Will Forrester and George Johnston also side-lined, defensive cover is thin.
Ian Evatt has hinted that a move was imminent in his press conference yesterday afternoon.
“There is progression and lots going on behind the scenes,” he said.
“We are hopeful we will have one more in by the weekend and then more to follow.
“We need some bodies. We need to have some rejuvenation in the squad and the team and losing Randell for six or seven weeks is a huge blow, so we are a bit light.”
Injuries have recently changed Bolton’s transfer focus – meaning the remaining six days of the window could be busier than anticipated.
“We were always happy with what we had,” Evatt said. “But you have to be fluid in the January window because things can happen and people can get injured. We always try to keep that.
“We have had an eye on getting better and improving. Things have evolved with that and there are some good opportunities out there for us to improve our squad, so hopefully we get that done before the window closes.”
Ogbeta has been on the bench for Swansea in the last couple of games – meaning Bolton have had to stay patient before being able to bring him in. But it is not yet known whether the deal with be initially on loan, or permanent.
“We are not going to do anything impulsively,” Evatt said yesterday. “We try to do everything at the right price. We have to stand firm on that.
“We are willing to walk away from deals and we have done that in the past – we did it last summer, and we’ll do it again.
“We have a clear valuation for everything we do and the moment it starts to get too heavy, we’ll walk away.”
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