Bolton Wanderers should pounce on big Nathan Jones decision at Charlton Athletic | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers should try to sign Isaac Olaofe from Charlton Athletic in the January transfer window.

Bolton Wanderers appear set for a busy end to the January transfer window as they seek to push themselves towards promotion back to the Championship at long last.

The Trotters have endured a mixed first-half of the campaign but remain tucked inside the top six and any new additions could prove pivotal in their pursuit of promotion. One man that they should be lining up is Charlton Athletic attacker Isaac Olaofe.

In the summer, Charlton are believed to have paid Stockport County a fee in the region of £1.5 million for Olaofe, with the Addicks becoming ambitious as they sought to be competitive in the Championship.

However, that ambition then led to further arrivals in attack for even bigger fees, such as last season’s League One top scorer Charlie Kelman, arriving from Queens Park Rangers for around £5 million.

It has therefore limited Olaofe’s impact at The Valley and, after just six starts all season, he now appears to be very much on the fringes of things, having been omitted from the match day squad in each of Charlton’s last two games against Sheffield United and then Derby County.

As a result, it would be no shock to see Olaofe depart in the winter transfer window and it is a situation brought about by Nathan Jones’ decision-making that Bolton should seek to exploit this month.

Change of shape at Bolton would suit Isaac Olaofe

Having recruited for a different shape in the summer, as was his desire, Steven Schumacher went with the 4-2-3-1 at Bolton for much of the opening few months of the campaign.

Things were looking bright but a major slump from late-November through to mid-January has led to a lot of criticism from supporters and has brought about a change in the system.

Reverting to the back three with wing-backs, a system that Schumacher exclusively deployed on his way to winning the League One title with Plymouth Argyle in the 2022/23 campaign, Bolton have been presented with more options for strikers in the final third.

Lacking a consistent so-called ‘number ten’ with Joel Randall now out on loan at Blackpool, John McAtee barely given game time and Kyle Dempsey failing to nail down the spot, Schumacher has now gone with a system that fluctuates from a 3-4-3 to a 3-4-2-1, or even a 3-4-1-2.

With Amario Cozier-Duberry a guaranteed starter at all times, the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee will either play in that one behind the two strikers or as one of the two either side of a centre-forward.

The other two spots, though, are more than up for grabs, and whether it be as an out and out striker, in a pairing of two or even as a left-sided winger, playing fairly narrowly, Olaofe would be very much suited to the system.

With Stockport last season, as the Hatters finished third before a play-off semi-final loss to Leyton Orient, Olaofe spent the majority of his time up-front but did also occasionally drift to the left flank.

With Charlton this season, the 26-year-old former Millwall attacker has again been used in a variety of positions, even playing as the second striker or in a slightly deeper role quite often, which would again suggest he would be an ideal fit for the new 3-4-2-1 system at Bolton.

Bolton would still be getting a coup with Isaac Olaofe

Despite the fact his stock has certainly fallen this season, if Bolton were to pull off the signing of Olaofe then they would be bringing in someone who was deemed to be worth seven figures as recently as a few months ago.

A player that was deemed to be good enough for the Championship and a very highly-rated League One striker, someone that Wanderers wouldn’t have been able to get in the summer but could now take advantage of in the winter.

In what was a very strong Stockport side, set-piece taker Ollie Norwood was the only man to create over ten big chances for County last season with only Will Collar and Lewis Bate, both midfielders, creating more than Olaofe throughout the campaign, according to FotMob.

In comparison to Bolton, Olaofe’s creativity for a player in the final third would also be welcomed with only Amario Cozier-Duberry being a forward player to have created more than four big chances all season.

Bolton lack an effective facilitator in the final third with Mason Burstow’s form falling off a cliff and Sam Dalby underwhelming throughout this season. Olaofe’s best attributes, even during a frustrating stint at Charlton, have been in terms of aerial duels and chance creation and providing the foil for Cozier-Duberry to once again shine could give Bolton the key to promotion.