Bolton Wanderers urged to sign QPR winger to replace Amario Cozier-Duberry | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers have been urged to pursue the signing of Queens Park Rangers winger Kwame Poku if Amario Cozier-Duberry does not re-sign for the club

Bolton Wanderers will be back in the Championship next season after a tough and extended period of England’s top two divisions – the longest period in the club’s history.

As their seven-year hiatus from the top two divisions in English football is now coming to an end as a result of their 4-1 defeat of Stockport County in the League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium, Steven Schumacher and the hierarchy at the club are preparing themselves for an extremely busy summer transfer window.

That busy summer began almost immediately as, only 24 hours after celebrations in Bolton Town Centre with a civic reception at the Town Hall, Bolton confirmed the release of key men such as George Johnston and Jordi Osei-Tutu, as well as Kyle Dempsey and Carlos Mendes Gomes.

As well as that, the club gave a thankful farewell to their seven-strong loan contingent, with no suggestion of any talks for any of those players potentially staying getting underway or set to get underway, while Szabolcs Schon’s sale to Gyori was also confirmed.

With 12 players already confirmed as having left the Toughsheet Community Stadium, the next few months is expected to be extremely busy and one key area of the pitch that they need to reinforce will be out-wide.

Bolton urged to target QPR winger Kwame Poku

Despite missing a large chunk of the second-half of the season, Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Amario Cozier-Duberry won the club’s Young Player of the Year and remained instrumental to The Trotters’ eventually successful campaign.

The former Arsenal man is expected to have plenty of suitors this summer and it would be, as of now, something of a surprise to see him return to Lancashire, even on another temporary deal.

As a result, Bolton will have to scour the market to replace what he brought to the club and FLW’s Bolton Fan Pundit Liam O’Meara believes a move for Queens Park Rangers winger Kwame Poku should be high up on their agenda.

Liam says: “I think this is a tough one because I think Bolton will potentially look back into the loan market and the honest truth is, you don’t always know who is available from Premier League clubs, which is how Amario Cozier-Duberry ended up at Bolton.

“However, if I look at what I think at the moment, the one who really sticks in my mind is Kwame Poku, who we have seen with his League One exploits.

“I know that the last season at QPR wasn’t particularly a great one with injuries and he didn’t necessarily get the minutes that he wanted to when he was fit.

“He can play on both wings. Primarily, on the right, and even in a central position and so it does give Bolton those options.

“He’s only 24 at the moment and he is a forward with particularly good output both in terms of goals and assists, which is what we would be losing with Cozier-Duberry.

“There is also a worry with a couple of hamstring injuries last season but he is the one that sticks out the most as someone who could be available for us to actually go and get, maybe even permanently.”

Kwame Poku would be a coup for Bolton

It is going to be a busy summer for Bolton, with further outgoings not unexpected and incomings already rumoured to be close with David Watson and Luca Stephenson reportedly set to join the club.

Out-wide is a key area for Schumacher, as well as Sporting Director Fergal Harkin and Head of Recruitment Jimmy Dickinson, to target with four of those seven loanees being wingers, with Cozier-Duberry as well as Rob Apter, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Ibrahim Cissoko.

That means that, should Bolton continue to play with width in the attacking areas, multiple signings are required and Kwame Poku, while an ideal profile with his ability to cut in from the right and of the right age, would be a major coup for the Lancastrians.

QPR won a very competitive race to sign Poku from Peterborough United last summer but he struggled with injuries, which is actually a theme of his career, in his first season at Loftus Road.

That said, Julien Stephan, a man renowned for his ability to develop young talent, will surely be desperate to finally properly work with a player of Poku’s quality.

The one-cap Ghana international attacker ended up in the League One Team of the Year in his final season at Posh, despite missing around four and a half months or so due to injury, such is his quality.

Poku hasn’t been able to show that just yet at QPR and it could well be that The Hoops opt to get him game time before allowing him to showcase his abilities at West London. Either way, it would be quite the coup for Bolton to poach a man that, just 12 months ago, was supposedly the subject of interest from as many as 26 clubs, according to Barry Fry.