Bolton Wanderers told not to 'blow all our budget' as Rotherham United transfer details revealed | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers should be wary of the £2 million signing of Rotherham United striker Sam Nombe.

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 have somehow moved themselves into contention for the top two and the automatic promotion spots in League One with poor performances rescued by as many as five late winners in the last month and a half or so.

The Trotters were always expected to challenge under the management of Steven Schumacher, especially after the 2022/23 title-winning manager was able to bring in 14 first-teamers in the summer transfer window, as well as being able to let so many previously important players depart the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Once again, it is proving to be an extremely busy window for Bolton with four signings having come through the door and six first-team players having left as they try and push for promotion in the second-half of the campaign.

Following the signing of Corey Blackett-Taylor on loan from Derby County, Bolton have also been linked with moves for both Rob Apter and Sam Nombe.

It has been suggested that Rotherham United have quoted Bolton £2 million for the latter and that is an asking price that would represent immense ambition from the Whites but perhaps also be one to be wary of for supporters.

£2 million would appear steep for Sam Nombe and Bolton

Bolton began this season with three strikers, albeit one, Victor Adeboyejo, was injured until the autumn and has since left the club for Mansfield Town without having played a minute of football.

Sam Dalby began the season injured, too, but has begun to show his quality, while Mason Burstow notched seven by early-October but has scored just one, a late match-winning penalty against Leyton Orient at the weekend, since then.

Therefore, reinforcements in the final third are still required even after the addition of Blackett-Taylor but, as FLW’s Bolton Fan Pundit Liam O’Meara points out, £2 million would be quite a lot of money for Nombe.

Liam says: “In terms of longer-term options, I do like that we are interested in Nombe.

“He seems a very good player and he seems to be hitting a period in his career where he is going to do his best work.

“I was very impressed with him when we played against them. He looked dangerous in the moment and got involved in the game.

“My only concern would be that £2 million does seem steep and if we did have £2 million to spend then I do think that we are a left-sided defender short, both as a left-back/wing-back and left centre-back.

“We recently, particularly with (Amario) Cozier-Duberry dropping in, went to a three-at-the-back, which saw George Johnston as a roaming left centre-back.

“I think we need a player with more natural midfielder capabilities in that role if we are going to play that system.

“Very similar to how we used to operate Gethin Jones in that system when he was sort of a marauding right centre-back, or else we feel light in midfield without that.

“I think that if we’ve got the money to spend then in an ideal world Nombe would be fantastic but I don’t want us to blow all of our budget on one player.”

It could be a busy end to the window for Bolton

With just a few days of the window to go and Bolton having already seen a lot of business happen, it would not be a surprise to see a hectic close to the market for the League One promotion challengers.

Goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe returned to Chelsea, while fellow ‘keeper Tyler Miller returned to the United States with a move to Charlotte. Will Forrester and Victor Adeboyejo moved to Leyton Orient and Mansfield Town, respectively.

Josh Dacres-Cogley was a surprise departure as he moved to Stockport County with Joel Randall moving to Blackpool on loan and there could be other departures, too.

Aaron Morley is the subject of interest from Oxford United this month, with Barnsley having tried to sign John McAtee late last summer and now Josh Sheehan now reportedly interesting other fellow League One clubs.

If Bolton are to continue to play a back-three shape at times this season then further defensive reinforcements will perhaps be required to provide depth at both centre-back and on the left-side, while attackers are very much still a priority, especially with injuries to both Marcus Forss and Amario Cozier-Duberry.