Bolton Wanderers: Steven Schumacher drops new Amario Cozier-Duberry revelation | OneFootball

Steven Schumacher has opened up on Bolton's failed attempt to re-sign Amario Cozier-Duberry

Steven Schumacher has claimed that he has no issues with Bolton Wanderers’ failure to bring Amario Cozier-Duberry back to the club.

The winger spent last season on loan with the Whites, where he proved an instrumental part of the side on their way to earning promotion to the Championship through the play-offs.

However, he has since returned to parent club Brighton where he committed his future with a new long-term contract.

This prompted another loan move on deadline day, with the 21-year-old signing for Middlesbrough for the remainder of the campaign.

Bolton had been linked with a possible second loan agreement with the Seagulls for the former Arsenal academy player.

But he has instead opted to step up to last season’s play-off finalists, with Kim Hellberg’s side aiming to earn promotion to the Premier League this season.

Steven Schumacher opens up on Amario Cozier-Duberry situation

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Schumacher has claimed that he has no issues with Bolton’s failure to bring Cozier-Duberry back to the club for another loan spell, as he understands the pull of playing for a team that is competing for promotion to the Premier League.

He admitted that he never really expected the Whites to be able to re-sign the 21-year-old this summer, and he even thought the winger might stay and compete with Brighton this season.

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“I thought he might have stayed with Brighton.

“And if he didn’t stay at Brighton, we knew there was interest from Wolves, West Ham apparently, and he’s gone to a team who got beaten in the play-off final.

“So there’s no qualms about that.”

Cozier-Duberry contributed eight goals and 11 assists from 34 appearances in the regular League One campaign last year, which helped Schumacher’s side finish fifth in the table.

He also played every minute of the play-offs, and even scored the winner in their first leg 1-0 victory against Bradford City, with the team eventually progressing 2-0 on aggregate.

But he has now completed the move to Middlesbrough, where he could be in line to make his debut this weekend against QPR on Saturday.

Bolton Wanderers’ summer business

Bolton were quite active in the transfer window despite failing to sign some of their targets, including Cozier-Duberry.

The Championship side completed 13 signings as a result of their promotion from League One, including permanent deals for Jayden Nelson, Luca Stephenson, Akim Famewo, Lewis Brunt, Gavin Bazunu and Atsuki Ito.

Gaizka Larrazabal, David Watson and Ben Davies all also joined as free agents, while Samuel Iling-Junior, Theo Bair and Ryan Hardie signed on loan.

Next up for Bolton is a trip to face Millwall on Saturday in a 3pm kick-off at the Den.

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Amario Cozier-Duberry signing was always unlikely for Bolton

Cozier-Duberry did incredibly well for Bolton last season, so it was always natural that the Whites would want to keep him around for another year.

But it was hardly a surprise that other clubs also took an interest in him after his impressive League One performances.

This made it a long shot for Bolton to complete another loan deal, and Schumacher seems to have accepted this fact a long time ago.

A move to Middlesbrough is definitely a step up from the newly-promoted Bolton, and he now has the chance to show he can compete at the top end of the Championship, and maybe even help Boro earn Premier League promotion.