Bolton have revealed their retained list for the summer, with Shaun Miller and Arthur Gnahoua the two major departures.
Sonny Graham, Callum King-Harmes, Jamie Mascoll, Sonny Graham, Muhammadu Faal and Jak Hickman have also been let go. There aren’t any surprises in that list to be honest, Miller and Gnahoua have come up with big cameos, but they were never serious candidates to be regular starters, and with us moving up a division, we need to strengthen. Hickman, Faal and Mascoll had been loaned out, while Graham and King-Harmes weren’t getting near the squad. Second-year scholars Markus Assarsson and Nathan Whalley are to also depart.
Gethin Jones, Matt Alexander and Adam Senior were all due to be out of contract but have been confirmed to be contracted for next season – Jones certainly had an option for another year. Two of the three are definitely the right call – Jones is our first choice right back, while we saw enough from Alexander in the Coventry match last season, while I can trust the powers that be with Senior.
The club are still in talks with Alex Baptiste, Harry Brockbank, Ryan Delaney, Matt Gilks, Lloyd Isgrove and Andrew Tutte, while discussions are also taking place with second year scholars Ryan Colvin, Jay Fitzmartin, Finlay Lockett and Luke Hutchinson. Out of the first-teamers, there’s probably only Tutte I would disagree with. For me, he’s in the same bracket as Gnahoua and Miller, it isn’t that he bad season or anything, far from it, but I’m sure we could get an upgrade on him.
There was no mention of Bright Amoateng in any capacity, so I’m not sure what the deal is there. He was out of contract.
Squad for next season as it stands (players still in talks in italics)
Goalkeepers: Matt Alexander, Matt Gilks, Luke Hutchinnson
Right-backs: Gethin Jones, Harry Brockbank
Centre-backs: Ricardo Almeida Santos, Liam Edwards, Reiss Greenidge, Adam Senior, Alex Baptiste, Ryan Delaney, Ryan Colvin
Left-backs: Liam Gordon
Central midfielders: Brandon Comley, Kieran Lee, George Thomason, MJ Williams, Andrew Tutte
Wide players: Nathan Delfouneso, Dennis Politic, Lloyd Isgrove, Jay Fitzmartin, Finlay Lockett
Attacking midfielders: Ali Crawford, Ronan Darcy, Antoni Sarcevic
Forwards: Eoin Doyle