Bolton Wanderers are suffering same West Brom issue over €14m Aston Villa man | OneFootball

Former Juventus man Samuel Iling-Junior is again struggling on loan from Aston Villa at Bolton Wanderers, as he did at West Bromwich Albion.

Bolton Wanderers are looking as though they may be set for a long and hard relegation battle in the Championship – and they desperately need to get more out of Aston Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior.

Bolton started this season as one of the red hot favourites for relegation which is natural considering The Trotters ended their seven-year hiatus from England’s top two divisions by defeating Stockport County in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium in May.

Steven Schumacher was given 13 new signings over the summer to try and make Wanderers competitive this season and their performances have not been poor.

However, they are coming unstuck with the higher level of quality in the second-tier eventually winning out, as was the case in their entertaining 3-2 defeat at home to West Ham United this midweek.

In that game, Bolton opted to go toe to toe with the pre-season title favourites and they very nearly won out – but quality told in the end.

There is a desperate need for the quality and experience, as well as pedigree, that they have brought in over the summer to now begin to stand up – and Samuel Iling-Junior should be key to that.

Samuel Iling-Junior has endured a frustrating start for Bolton

Having arrived a day before Bolton’s opening day 2-1 defeat of Preston North End last month, Iling-Junior came off the bench to help Wanderers see out still their only win of the season so far.

A week later, he came off the bench as Bolton held on for a goalless draw at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers. There were flashes in both cameo appearances but surely not enough to get him in the eleven just yet.

Schumacher disagreed, though, whether it be a contractual requirement for Iling-Junior to get regular minutes or the former Plymouth Argyle boss perhaps seeing something many others didn’t, Iling-Junior then came into the eleven for the 1-0 loss at home to Lincoln City and he has remained on their right-wing from the start ever since.

Against Lincoln, Iling-Junior flashed a couple of very good low crosses in when on the counter-attack and a few days later he again had his moments against Sheffield United but more memorable moments would be some skewed or tame finishes against The Blades as well as against West Ham, as well as not getting into the game at all in their 4-0 loss to Millwall that sandwiched those 3-2 defeats.

Kyliane Dong showed more in his first start of the season against West Ham than Iling-Junior has done this season, while Thierry Gale has perhaps been Bolton’s best performer thus far until being rested against The Irons on the left-wing.

Iling-Junior may well keep his spot neither Dong nor Gale seemingly set to feature prominently on the right, and the same can be said for Jayden Nelson, leaving competition for his place limited – but he has to show more to avoid Schumacher surely opting to again shake things up on the right-wing.

Samuel Iling-Junior has endured a tough few years

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Having come through the academy at Juventus after leaving Chelsea as a youngster, Iling-Junior went on to make over 40 appearances for the Bianconeri before a move to Aston Villa in the summer of 2024 for a fee believed to be in the region of 14 million euros.

In the two years since moving to Villa Park, Iling-Junior has not played for The Villans and has instead been sent out on loan four times with a half a season at Bologna, half a season at Middlesbrough, half a season at West Bromwich Albion and then half at Pisa last year as they succumbed to relegation down to Serie B.

Baggies supporters in particular grew extremely frustrated with the left-footed winger, who scored just one goal in 24 appearances, and the rebuild of his career he had hoped to kick start at Bolton is following a similar pattern early on, despite the trust of Schumacher.

At international youth level, Iling-Junior has previously shone at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, notching a brace for England’s U21s in a 7-0 defeat of Luxembourg in March 2024 – with many Bolton fans having attended and therefore been excited about his arrival.

However, a seeming lack of confidence is limiting Iling-Junior to a peripheral role on the pitch once again, as was the case at The Hawthorns, despite now getting the much-needed regular game time to find his rhythm.

Samuel Iling-Junior is not helped by following Amario Cozier-Duberry

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Steven Schumacher was given 13 new signings this summer but two key players from last season in Amario Cozier-Duberry and Johnny Kenny moved to Championship rivals Middlesbrough and Preston respectively on the final day of the summer transfer window.

Cozier-Duberry’s influence on Bolton’s promotion in particular was instrumental, including in the play-offs when he scored the winner in their first-leg against Bradford City and then played a key role in the final at Wembley.

The new Middlesbrough loanee, joining The Smoggies from Brighton and Hove Albion, always appeared to be playing a level below his talents and many may have felt that a return to the Championship would surely be to Bolton as he would be a key man for The Trotters at second division level.

Instead, a major gap has been left on the right-wing for someone to fill and despite having those left-footed attributes and a similarly strong pedigree, Iling-Junior is failing to live up to it.

Playing at a higher level will naturally have not helped as Bolton fans now have high expectations of their flying right-winger but following in the footsteps of Cozier-Duberry has also been harsh on Iling-Junior.