Bolton Wanderers must act quickly to protect 22-year-old - talks are underway | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers must ensure that they tie left-back Max Conway down to a long-term contract.

Bolton Wanderers’ start to the season has been a positive one in terms of their performance level, and Steven Schumacher will be happy with how quickly his squad overhaul appears to be paying off at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

14 new signings have arrived in Lancashire, with plenty of previously key first-teamers being let go, sold on or loaned out, and Schumacher has been able to put a marker down on his squad.

They have started this season with just one defeat inside 90 minutes in their opening ten matches across all competitions, with that coming on the opening day of the season against Stockport County in another game whereby they were perhaps the better side.

Schumacher had warned supporters that there may not be a major overhaul of the squad this summer, but he had a desire to recruit to a different shape and he has certainly been able to do that.

The left-back position was one that needed to be filled this summer as a result of the previous recruitment strategy of targeting players exclusively for a three-at-the-back system.

However, despite the influx of personnel, it was a position where a solution was already in the building, and Bolton are reaping the rewards of a smart choice by sticking with Max Conway, who they must get signed up to a long-term contract.

Max Conway is a star in the making at Bolton

According to The Bolton News, Bolton have now entered into negotiations with Max Conway over a new contract, with the recently turned 22-year-old coming to the end of his current deal in the summer of 2026.

Conway has been absolutely sublime for Wanderers this season, and his pre-season performances had Schumacher switching his attention from signing a left-back to bringing in more wingers or attackers, such as Ibrahim Cissoko and Marcus Forss.

Having spent last season out on loan at Crewe Alexandra in League Two, winning the Player of the Year award for the Railwaymen, Conway, who can represent South Africa internationally, has been a star for Bolton this season.

Earning his first assist of the season against AFC Wimbledon in a 3-0 demolition of the Londoners, Conway is only going to get more plaudits throughout this campaign, and it is now imperative to ensure that the club tie him down to as long a deal as possible.

Max Conway can be the first key man from Bolton B team

A few years ago, following the takeover of Football Ventures, Bolton decided to set up a B team in order to streamline and maximise their profits, like Brentford in the past, but it hasn’t quite paid off just yet.

Despite some occasionally exciting youngsters, no player has really hit the ground running nor nailed down a place in the first-team squad – until Conway.

Sam Inwood and Sonny Sharples-Ahmed have been on the periphery of the squad for a while now and those two have recently signed new contracts at the club, protecting their value.

Ensuring that the club can protect the value of perhaps their prized asset in Conway will not have to be very high up on the to do list.

Marauding forward as an auxiliary attacker at times, whilst also enormously improving defensively, Conway is currently keeping the highly-rated Richard Taylor out of the side on the left side of the defence.

With his height, style of play, position and even his squad number, he is reminding Bolton supporters of a former Trotters favourite Marcos Alonso, who left Bolton on a free transfer for Fiorentina after a three-year stint in 2013.

They will hope to avoid that same mistake this time around and get Conway tied down for the foreseeable future, with his undoubted potential being realised in the early stages of this campaign.