Bolton Wanderers should revisit move for Middlesbrough & Preston target in January | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers should move for Salford City winger Kelly N'Mai in the January transfer window.

Steven Schumacher will believe Bolton Wanderers have an excellent chance to gain promotion, at long last, from League One, after a couple of big results of late.

The Trotters have a very good squad that has been almost completely revamped and reshaped by Schumacher, and the former Plymouth Argyle boss should continue to rebuild things with the signing of Kelly N’Mai from Salford City in the January transfer window.

Tasked with rebuilding Bolton after a period of stagnation under the management of Ian Evatt, Schumacher has been able to transform the personnel and playing style at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Still often frustrated by good performances not getting their rewards, Bolton have enjoyed a three-match winning streak, which included late and dramatic victories against expected promotion rivals Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town.

As they continue to assert themselves as one of the best teams in the third-tier, Schumacher will already be looking ahead to bolstering his squad in the winter and N’Mai would remain the ideal addition.

Bolton should return for Middlesbrough and Preston target Kelly N’Mai

Over the summer, it was reported that Bolton had a bid rejected for winger Kelly N’Mai, amid interest from Championship clubs Middlesbrough and Preston North End.

The Dutchman, who has played at wing-back on occasion for Karl Robinson at Salford, the Ammies Player of the Year in League Two last season, but has suffered from a slower start this time around.

Having once been on trial at Manchester United, N’Mai was the fulcrum of a Salford side that narrowly missed out on the top seven and the play-off places in League Two, due to a defeat to already relegated Carlisle United at Brunton Park on the final day of the campaign.

The 21-year-old former Warrington Rylands and Chester loanee, who wears the number ten shirt for City, hit nine goals and provided five assists in 32 League Two appearances for Salford last season.

He remains a key man for Karl Robinson’s side, as they try and push for their long-awaited promotion out of League Two and into the third-tier.

The fact that it has been a quieter start to the season for N’Mai than he would have ideally liked, having been valued at over £1 million by Robinson a few months ago, could help Wanderers out.

The potential and promise remain, but the amount of competitive suitors, especially from the likes of Championship promotion challengers ‘Boro and Preston, could leave the door open for Bolton to pounce on a player that could end up being the point of difference in their own push for promotion.

Bolton could still do with Kelly N’Mai on the wing

The shift from a back three to a 4-2-3-1 system this season saw Steven Schumacher and Bolton aggressively recruit wingers over the summer with the arrivals of Charlie Warren, Thierry Gale, Amario Cozier-Duberry and Ibrahim Cissoko.

However, Gale, despite his brilliance, is already becoming known as injury-prone, whilst Warren has struggled to assert himself as a first-team player and Cissoko’s fleeting performances have been immensely underwhelming.

Jordi Osei-Tutu is the only other man that can play out-wide, aside from the simply brilliant Cozier-Duberry, but he is a full-back by trade and also probably falls into the Gale category of being injury prone.

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On the final day of the summer transfer window, other wide options Carlos Mendes Gomes and Szabolcs Schon were loaned out to Exeter City and ETO, respectively.

So, despite the recruitment drive, Wanderers remain light out-wide and a move for a winger in January would appear a priority – and re-establishing their interest in N’Mai would make perfect sense for the Trotters as they seek to propel themselves back into the Championship.

It would also make sense for N’Mai to ensure he makes the gradual step in his career and moves to a League One promotion challenger, rather than run the risk of getting lost with limited minutes at either the Riverside Stadium or Deepdale, should those clubs reignite their interest in him.