Bolton Wanderers: Steven Schumacher "highly likely" to complete midfielder transfer | OneFootball

Bolton are looking to take advantage of the player's contract situation.

Bolton Wanderers have made contact with Swedish club IFK Norrkoping over a deal for midfielder Jesper Ceesay.

Steven Schumacher's rebuilding mission at the Toughsheet Community Stadium has long been underway. Four additions have already been made to his Bolton side ahead of his first full campaign in charge of the club.

While a nice amount of new faces have appeared for the start of pre-season training, Schumacher is looking to work with a squad of a slightly smaller size than the one that he inherited in late January.

Still, despite having made just one sale, and a major one at that, with star forward Aaron Collins joining MK Dons for £800,000, the scouse boss isn't slowing down in his recruitment drive.

Bolton "highly likely" to seal Jesper Ceesay signing from Norrkoping

Bolton are reportedly looking at signing Ceesay, a Gambian utility midfielder from the Swedish top flight.

According to Sportsbladet, the Trotters have made initial contact with his current club over a prospective deal.

The 23-year-old has played 10 matches so far in the Allsvenskan's 2025 campaign, eight of which he has started. The deep-lying central midfielder has one goal and one assist so far in the term, but this looks set to be his last season with the club as his contract expires in December.

Ceesay has been made available for a move by Norrkoping, as per the report. It is considered "highly likely" that he will join the League One outfit this summer.

As well as being able to operate in the centre of the park, Ceesay can also play as a left-back. This is an area that Schumacher has been looking to address all summer, with links to Hull City defender Matty Jacob. Currently, the only natural option available to the boss is 21-year-old Max Conway, who is yet to make a first-team appearance for Bolton.

On the flip side of things, Wanderers are fairly well-stocked in midfield. The addition of Xavier Simons brought further depth to an already busy area of the pitch for Bolton, although there is still scope for some of these options to leave before the end of the window.

Bolton Wanderers would have to consider positive and negative Jesper Ceesay fitness factor

A move for Ceesay will bring its bonuses and its concerns in equal measure for Bolton Wanderers.

They shouldn't need to worry about his levels of fitness as he's currently in the middle of a campaign, which would give Bolton a boost in the early stages of next season if they are to land him.

The problem that will come of this, though, is that he could end up playing an obscene number of games between now and the end of the 2025/26 campaign here in England.