Ryan Delaney has left Bolton Wanderers.
The centre-back was out of contract but the club were in talks with him over a new deal, but ultimately both parties failed to agree terms and so he departs after an 18-month stay.
Delaney joined in January 2020, brought in by Keith Hill. He was in and out of the team during his time here, with the curtailment of the 2019-20 season coming just as he looked to have claimed a regular place in the team. Under Ian Evatt, he took a few games to get back into the side but was a regular in the autumn, with the most memorable moment of his spell with us coming at Cheltenham last December, where he managed to score the only goal of the game.
After being sent off at Tranmere in January, Alex Baptiste took his place and frankly never looked back. Wanderers permanently moved to a back four, meaning he was out of the side and also rarely on the bench, given Evatt’s preference to have as many attacking options in reserve as possible.
He could have stayed, but whether there was a financial aspect, or he was at best going to be fourth choice behind Baptiste, Ricardo Santos and new signing George Johnstone, we don’t know. Given we still have Adam Senior, Liam Edwards and Reiss Greenidge too, we’re well covered with six centre-backs, while Harry Brockbank and MJ Williams can also play there.
All in all, it isn’t a huge surprise to see him go, but a League One or Two club should be able to pick him up and have no regrets doing so.