Exclusive: Huddersfield Town planning shock transfer swoop for Bolton Wanderers striker | OneFootball

The Terriers look set to launch an offer for Northern Ireland international Dion Charles

Huddersfield Town are lining up a transfer raid on their League One rivals Bolton Wanderers for striker Dion Charles, Football League World can exclusively reveal.

The Terriers, despite finding themselves fourth in the third tier standings, have struggled for consistent goals from their strikers throughout the 2024-25 season, with the likes of Bojan Radulovic and Freddie Ladapo failing to fire.

West Ham loanee Callum Marshall is Town’s joint-top league scorer with six goals along with midfielder Ben Wiles, but a new striker is needed to push Michael Duff’s side back into the Championship - especially after losing Danny Ward to the sidelines for the rest of the campaign.

Huddersfield Town line up shock move for Bolton Wanderers striker Dion Charles

Huddersfield are now looking to rectify their issues at the top end of the pitch by making a move for Charles, sources have told FLW.

The 29-year-old, who plied his trade in non-league for the likes of AFC Fylde and Southport either side of a failed stint at Fleetwood Town, made his Football League bow in 2019 when signing for Accrington Stanley, and he has developed leaps and bounds since being sold to Bolton in January 2022.

Charles, who has been capped 28 times for the Northern Ireland national team, has been the top scorer of the Trotters for the previous two seasons, but has found game-time harder to come by under Ian Evatt in 2024-25.

Despite starting 15 of Bolton’s 23 League One matches this season, Charles has featured from the first minutes just twice in their last seven league fixtures, with the pairing of John McAtee and Aaron Collins preferred instead.

Even though minutes have been limited in recent weeks, Charles remains Bolton's top league goalscorer for the current campaign with seven, which is one ahead of the aforementioned Collins.

A potential move for Charles to the John Smith's Stadium could fund a number of new signings for Evatt though, including Peterborough United playmaker Joel Randall, who FLW exclusively revealed last week was a target once more for the Lancashire outfit after a failed summer pursuit.

Huddersfield Town desperately need a striker like Dion Charles this month

Huddersfield's struggles at the top end of the pitch are well-documented, and their need for a new striker is evident.

Despite the fact that he will be 30 later this year, Charles could be the perfect fit for Michael Duff at Town, at a time where the Preston-born forward could do with rejuvinating his own career after falling out of favour with Ian Evatt.

Time will tell if the two clubs can get a deal sorted, but you have to wonder if a sale to a promotion rival like Huddersfield could be detrimental to Bolton's own top six push, given he could start firing once again on the other side of the Pennines if he makes the move.