"I'm disappointed but..." - Bolton Wanderers, Alfie May claim made as Huddersfield Town close in on Birmingham City deal | OneFootball

FLW's Bolton Wanderers fan pundit has given his reaction to Birmingham City striker Alfie May's imminent move to Huddersfield Town.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Bolton Wanderers are preparing for another year in League One after missing out on promotion last season.

After an inconsistent first half of the season, Bolton parted company with long-serving manager Ian Evatt in January, and despite making a strong start to life under his replacement, Steven Schumacher, they were unable to maintain their improved form and eventually finished the campaign in an underwhelming 10th place.

As Schumacher rebuilds his squad, the Trotters released a number of senior players at the end of their contracts this summer, including Nathan Baxter, Joel Coleman, Gethin Jones and Ricardo Santos, while key duo George Thomason and Aaron Collins have departed for Wrexham and MK Dons respectively, but the Lancashire outfit have brought in six new signings so far.

Bolton's early transfer business has caught the eye, but many of their League One rivals have also been active in the market, and as FLW exclusively revealed on Monday, Huddersfield Town are closing in on the signing of Birmingham City striker Alfie May for a fee of £1.2 million.

After scoring 27 goals for Charlton Athletic in the 2023-24 campaign, May netted 17 times in 57 appearances for Birmingham last season as they won the third tier title with an EFL-record total of 111 points, and he will be hoping to replicate that prolific form for Huddersfield next term.

Bolton Wanderers reaction given to big Alfie May, Huddersfield Town news

When asked if he was disappointed the club did not make a move for May, FLW's Bolton Wanderers fan pundit Liam O'Meara admitted that he believes the signing of the 32-year-old would have almost guaranteed promotion for the Trotters next season, but he questioned whether it would have been sensible to pay a seven-figure fee for a player of his age.

"I am disappointed because, like a lot of fans of clubs at the top end of League One, you look at someone like Alfie May's goals at this level, and he's almost as close to a sure thing as you can get," Liam told FLW.

"I think the challenge is paying that money for a player of his age.

"You have to look beyond the season that you're in.

"It's very easy to think that, if we sign Alfie May, we could go up this year, and I do believe that would be true because Bolton look better than I suspected they might do in pre-season so far.

"I'm starting to think that we may surprise some teams this season.

"If you add Alfie May into the mix, is he the missing piece? Quite possibly.

"For £1.2 million for his age, you've got to look beyond this season, particularly with Bolton's budget.

"We're not skint by any means, but we don't have an absolute war chest.

"If we did, and in a world where money wasn't an issue, he would be the perfect signing.

"But do I want to spend that money on someone that age? No, I probably don't.

"Yes, I'm disappointed, but for that money, I would have passed."

It has been a decent start to the summer for Bolton, but they were dealt a huge blow last month when last season's 19-goal top scorer Aaron Collins made a shock move to League Two side MK Dons.

The Trotters do still have Sam Dalby, Victor Adeboyejo, John McAtee and the out-of-favour Dan Nlundulu on their books, but they are in need of a prolific striker, and Schumacher has urged the club to sign a new number nine within the next week to give him time to work with them before the start of the season.

A striker like May would certainly have fit the bill for Schumacher, and Wanderers supporters will be frustrated to see him join a promotion rival in Huddersfield, but as Liam said, he would have been an expensive short-term signing who would likely have been offloaded once the club reached the Championship.