Bolton Wanderers could trigger Sunderland, Wycombe Wanderers transfer sequence | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers loaned out Aaron Morley to Wycombe Wanderers earlier this season but have said they are open to recalling him in January.

Mistakes have been a theme of Bolton Wanderers’ summer transfer windows throughout the last few years, hence the usually busy January that they embark upon.

One such issue from the previous window was supposedly recruiting for a new system to have different in-game options, as Ian Evatt said, but then leaving themselves exposed in the middle of the pitch.

For example, Bolton played with three central midfielders last season and had five players to cover those roles: Josh Sheehan, George Thomason, Kyle Dempsey, Aaron Morley, and Paris Maghoma.

Fewer midfielders were needed with the Whites’ switch to a 3-4-2-1, with two 10s, so after Maghoma’s loan expired, Aaron Morley also departed the club on loan to Wycombe Wanderers, with only Jay Matete coming in.

The 3-4-2-1 experiment lasted all of two matches and injuries to both Dempsey and Thomason meant that Bolton have only had Sheehan and Matete available for the last month or so, forcing Evatt to go back to the experiment he abandoned in August.

With that in mind, Wanderers could well spark a transfer merry-go-round in January with the recall of the aforementioned Morley a possibility – albeit it would involve Bolton and their boss acknowledging a mistake.

The story of Morley at Bolton

Bolton brought in Morley during one of the aforementioned busy January transfer windows to rectify a season that they have had since the takeover of Football Ventures and the arrival of Evatt.

He joined for an undisclosed fee from Rochdale in January 2022 and immediately hit the ground running with some very impressive performances, most notably in the 6-0 hammering of Sunderland a few weeks after joining.

He was then a key man and made 33 league starts as the Trotters finished fifth in the 2022/23 campaign before also seeming like a key man at the start of the 2023/24 season but slowly fading out of contention behind Thomason, Sheehan, and Maghoma.

His loan to Wycombe in August was a surprising one but the potential of Morley, which was clear, is beginning to be realised but, frustratingly for Bolton fans, at another Wanderers under the management of Matt Bloomfield rather than Evatt.

He has been a key man for the Chairboys, who sit at the top of the table in League One ahead of big-spending Birmingham City, as a guaranteed starter in one of the two midfield positions in Wycombe’s entertaining 4-2-3-1 system.

Repeated mistakes

Evatt has already admitted that Morley could be recalled in January with the former Barrow boss saying that "nothing is off the table" with regards to his recall but also suggesting that if his valuation is met, then he could leave permanently.

The Bolton manager has shown himself to be a very proud man with a lot of self-belief, so recalling the 24-year-old would have to be an admittance of an error in the summer business, so, frankly, it appears unlikely.

It shouldn’t be unlikely, though. Not just because Bolton have just two fit central midfielders but Morley would and has offered something different to the Bolton midfield in recent years with a seemingly very high ceiling to go with it.

Bolton made a mistake in January 2023 with the sale of Dapo Afolayan and a failure to adequately replace him. They made a mistake when they chased the likes of Danny Armstrong and Karamoko Dembele over the summer, as well as Luke McCowan, but landed none of them.

They made a mistake in the summer of 2023 when they failed to get deals over the line for Kane Wilson, who now plays for Derby County in the Championship, and Keanu Baccus, who plays for a Mansfield Town side above Bolton in the league table.

The summer of 2020 had to be rectified with several additions in January 2021 and the same happened in January 2022 and January 2023, with January 2024 also seeing the arrival of Aaron Collins for £750,000 from Bristol Rovers; the biggest outlay on a player since the permanent signing of Jay Spearing in 2013.

Matete has not convinced many and, aside from injuries, the reason as to why he had only ever started 44 League One games before this season is becoming clear with every passing game. Allowing Morley to leave was a mistake that needs rectifying and Bolton are apparently open to it.

If Wanderers and Evatt do decide to recall Morley in January then Matete could well be the victim of a potential break clause in his contract at the Toughsheet, finding himself back with the Black Cats.

The domino effect of Morley's form with Wycombe could result in a sequence that impacts Championship automatic promotion chasers Sunderland and their January transfer window plans with another body inadvertently to their squad.

Bolton would seem to be the major beneficiaries from such a sequence, and Wycombe the key losers, but the Wearsiders are part of the chain as well.