Elias Kachunga pens emotional Bolton Wanderers message as departure seemingly looms | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers wanted their season to end with promotion at Wembley at the end of May, but it has been halted prematurely thanks to defeat at Barnsley on Friday night.

Taking a 1-1 draw from the first leg to South Yorkshire, the Trotters were undone by Liam Kitching's first half header which ended up settling the two-legged affair as Ian Evatt's side could not get back into the match to take it into extra time.

It was a disappointing end to the 2022-23 campaign for Wanderers, who showed plenty of quality in the regular season but not quite enough to get over the finishing line and back to the Championship.

One player who has been a regular feature for Bolton by playing 50 times, but not a lot of them from the very start of a match, is Elias Kachunga, who has penned a message to Wanderers supporters following Friday's events.

What has Elias Kachunga said to Bolton fans?

The dust has taken a while to settle from Friday's defeat at Oakwell, but Kachunga is one of the Bolton players that has spoken out a few days on from the gutwrenching defeat.

"After a few days, it still hurts knowing we could not finish the job," Kachunga wrote on Instagram.

"We would have loved to take everyone to Wembley for a second time.

"Thank you to all supporters who have been there for us the whole season and thank you to the people who have supported me personally too.

"I would like to wish Bolton all the best for the future

"Special thank you to the amazing staff who have always taken care of me and my family, I will keep this always in my heart. Keep smiling and God bless you all."

Should Elias Kachunga be moved on from Bolton this summer?

Putting sentiment aside, it is probably the right thing for Bolton to let Kachunga move on to pastures new this summer.

Having been at the Trotters for the best part of two years, Kachunga has only scored eight goals in 91 appearances - just two of them coming in league action as well - so they clearly need better and more effective attacking options.

Dion Charles aside, Ian Evatt doesn't really have many out-and-out goalscoring options in his squad for 2023-24 and that's something that needs to be addressed, and unfortunately now some difficult decisions will be made.

That includes seemingly letting Kachunga move elsewhere, and perhaps a move back to Germany would be desired for the 31-year-old.