Bolton Wanderers poised to sanction January transfer exits - 24-year-old likely to be moved on | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers will be making changes in the January transfer window, and one defender could be set to leave The Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Bolton Wanderers are set to make changes in the January transfer window, with one eye on reducing their wage bill as they seek to keep their finances under control for the remainder of 2025-26.

It may have ended their run of three straight wins, but the Trotters have remained in fifth place in League One following a goalless draw with Bradford City in their first game back following the international break.

The result continues Bolton's solid start to the season, keeping Steven Schumacher's team in the play-off places, but they have a pretty big squad to choose from when everyone's fit - and that may need to be streamlined at the start of 2026.

And one defender has already been identified as a possible departee from the club in the window as Bolton seek to balance their books as they prepare for the second half of the season.

Bolton Wanderers will be seeking to trim their squad in the January transfer window

Journalist Alan Nixon reports through his Patreon that Bolton Wanderers are looking to let some players go in the upcoming January transfer window in a bid to take some shape of their wage bill, and that trimming their squad will be near the top of their list of priorities at the start of next year.

It is reported that the club have been left with too many players on their books as a result of the investment that they spent during the summer transfer window, leaving them with players who are now surplus to requirements at the club.

When everyone is fit and available for Bolton, they have a 27-man first-team squad, and with League One fixtures only requiring 18 players to be selected on matchdays, it is leaving several players out in the cold.

Will Forrester could be on his way out of The Toughsheet Community Stadium in January

One of those is centre-back Will Forrester, who has had injury issues to deal with in recent times, but Nixon has reported that the 24-year-old is the most likely first departee from the Trotters come the January window.

Forrester signed for Bolton from Port Vale in July 2023, but since his arrival, constant injury problems has meant he has been unable to hold down a regular place in the first-team, having made just 37 league appearances - and 52 in all competitions - for them in more than two seasons.

Last week, it was reported by the Bolton News that manager Steven Schumacher had told Forrester that he needs to "join the queue" if he wants first-team football, with at least Eoin Toal, George Johnston and Chris Forino ahead of him in the current pecking order.

He hasn't had a single league outing for them so far this season, owing to damaging his hamstring back in April, with his only appearance in a Bolton shirt coming in his injury comeback in their 6-2 win at Oldham Athletic in the Vertu Trophy during the international break.

And getting Forrester's wages off their books - if he's not going to be used by Schumacher - may go a step further to helping the club to balance their accounts for the second half of the season.

Bolton's solid start to the season has given them a shot at promotion back to the Championship, but with their squad looking bloated, it's clear that there is trimming work that they can do, especially if they could find at least one more player to potentially push them over the line and back into the Championship.