New Bolton Wanderers, Spurs transfer raises concern for 3 players | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers being linked with Jamie Donley could impact on the loan stints of Amario Cozier-Duberry, Marcus Forss and Ibrahim Cissoko.

The January transfer window is just around the corner and Bolton Wanderers are limping towards it, still in the hunt for automatic promotion in League One but perhaps in need of some fresh energy to boost their top two credentials.

Following a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Mansfield Town to round off the calendar year, the Trotters have now managed just three victories in their last seven League One games – a run of form that has dealt a major blow just at the wrong time.

Steven Schumacher was granted an overhaul of the squad in the summer with 14 new additions and plenty of first-team departures but the shake up and re-imagining of the personnel may not yet be complete for the former Plymouth Argyle boss.

As the Whites head into what is only his second full transfer window in charge, they have already been linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder Jamie Donley, who is out on loan at Stoke City.

Donley, who excelled while on loan at Leyton Orient last season, has struggled for game time and for consistency and form with the Potters, and so if Spurs do indeed recall him, Bolton are reportedly positioning themselves to the front of the queue.

That, though, will have to coincide with the de-registering of a first-team player, with Bolton having named a full squad of 22, or the cancellation of a loan deal themselves.

Bolton already have five players in on temporary deals and a match day squad can only boast six, so if Wanderers were to bring in Donley then they would be prevented form any further loan moves in January which, at this stage, seems very unlikely.

As a result, that means one of them may have to return and FLW has looked at the three likeliest candidates for whom the potential arrival of Donley could lead to their departure from Bolton.

3 ? ? Amario Cozier-Duberry

This one would hurt Bolton supporters as Amario Cozier-Duberry has been a stunning addition since joining on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer.

After an underwhelming stint while at Blackburn Rovers last season, the former Arsenal youngster has been one of the very best and most effective players in League One this season with six goals and seven assists.

However, his form has certainly dipped since a brace of goals and a brace of assists in a 4-0 drumming of Port Vale in mid-November, with only one assist since, coming in second-half stoppage-time to set up Josh Sheehan’s late winner against Rotherham United on Boxing Day.

There has been a predictability to the way in which he has played, with questions of fatigue, too, leading to him even being left out of the eleven against Mansfield earlier this month.

However, Cozier-Duberry remains one of the very best players in the division and is expected to come good but the former England youth international has previously been linked with a move away, with Sheffield United among other Championship clubs that are said to be interested in poaching him for a higher level in the winter window.

Whether or not the links have hampered his concentration and form is not known, but the timing is at least coincidental and Wanderers fans will have to be holding their breath for the next month.

After a couple of improved displays against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup and then in that defeat of Port Vale, Ibrahim Cissoko declared himself the type of player that supporters want to see.

Since then, he put in a stellar performance against Bradford City in the EFL Trophy before losing form and returning to the type of wasteful and frustrating player he had been for the vast majority of the campaign.

His cameo when chasing the game against Mansfield at home, in that 1-0 loss, left Bolton fans audibly annoyed by his performance, with a seeming lack of understanding of the situation and far too little end product, or even quality, for what was needed and what he was trying to do.

It has been reported that Bolton would have to pay Toulouse £1.2 million to sign the Dutchman on a permanent deal but that would seem incredibly foolish at this stage, despite Cissoko stating he wants to remain at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

1 ? ? Marcus Forss

One man who has also underwhelmed since joining on loan in the summer is Finland international attacker Marcus Forss, who arrived from Middlesbrough on the summer’s deadline day.

Forss, formerly of Brentford, has previously proven himself to be a more than capable scorer in the second-tier, let alone in League One, and he has shown real moments of quality.

However, those moments have been too few and supporters have grown frustrated again with Forss’ lack of output, albeit seemingly stemming from a lack of confidence, in contrast to the way in which Cissoko goes about his business, who appears to suffer from over confidence.

A superb brace against local rivals Wigan Athletic in his first start for the club in mid-September has been followed by just three more goals, all coming in the EFL Trophy.

He hasn’t be helped by being shifted around the pitch, playing out-wide, up-front and in the ‘number ten’ position, with none of them being nailed down for longer than a couple of successive starts.

Forss is a player that, with his pedigree, many believe will come good but the similarities in profile to Donley may well see him further squeezed out of the first-team picture in Lancashire.