The season for Bolton Wanderers ended on Saturday afternoon under extremely frustrating circumstances.
On the last day of the regular season, the Trotters lost out on a guaranteed return to the Championship after spending the majority of the year chasing automatic promotion.
Instead, Ian Evatt’s team had to make do with a third-place result, which meant they would have to compete in the play-off lottery to advance.
Even though they were many people’s favorites to win, they would lose in the final, falling to Oxford United 2-0 at Wembley.
Bolton must now contend with another difficult season in their attempt to return to the English football second division, and it appears they have already begun making preparations for that endeavor.
Bolton eyeing fresh West Brom transfer agreement
Journalist Alan Nixon has reported that the Trotters are now considering recruiting West Brom’s Zac Ashworth, a left back, this summer.
Naturally, Ashworth is well-known to Evatt’s team, having recently joined them on loan from the Baggies for the season.
It is now suggested that the Bolton boss is keen to turn that loan move for the 21-year-old into a permanent one.
However, it could be argued that if the club do indeed want to sign a left-back this summer, they may have a more suitable option they can target, who has been right under their noses recently.
Nathanael Ogbeta should be considered for Bolton return
Ashworth, who signed with the team in the summer, wasn’t the only left-back that the Trotters signed on loan this year.
Nathanael Ogbeta also joined in the January window, temporarily joining from Swansea City, a Championship team, until the end of the campaign.
Following that, certain situations would suggest that Ogbeta would be a better target than Ashworth out of the two left-backs.
Though he spent half a season less with Bolton, the Swansea loanee played in a very small number of fewer games for the Trotters than the 21-year-old.
| Nathanael Ogbeta and Zac Ashworth Bolton Wanderers 2023/24 records – stats from Transfermarkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Date Joined | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Nathanael Ogbeta | 26th January 2024 | 17 | 2 | 4 |
| Zac Ashworth | 20th July 2023 | 23 | 3 | 3 |
In fact, Ogbeta made 13 appearances in the league starting lineup for Evatt’s team, while Ashworth made just six. Despite some injury concerns early in the season, Ashworth was also left off the squad on occasion later in the season.
This included Ogbeta’s inclusion in the starting lineup for the Trotters during their loss at Wembley in the play-off final.
Because of this, it appears like Evatt feels more than comfortable depending on the 23-year-old to perform well for his team in League One. That said, he ought to feel perfectly comfortable bringing him back to Bolton come summertime.
He has the chance to accomplish that as well because Ogbeta is currently free to sign for another team after Swansea released him after his contract expired at the end of the last campaign.
On the other hand, Ashworth’s contract with West Brom expires in one year, therefore Bolton would have to pay a price to bring him back.
This might then reduce the funds available to spend on other possible acquisitions who could bolster the team in different areas and raise their chances of winning a promotion in the upcoming season.
Given this, it would seem reasonable to argue that, at this point in time, Bolton should seek Ogbeta rather than Ashworth for the summer.