Bolton Wanderers keen to tie up transfer for 23-year-old European player | OneFootball

After missing out on promotion from League One through the play-offs last season, Bolton Wanderers have wasted no time in strengthening their squad ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

The Trotters will be one of the favourites to secure their spot in the Championship next year and they've already made some smart signings, including the free transfer arrivals of Josh Dacres-Cogley and Nathan Baxter as well as a permanent move for last season's loanee Dan Nlundulu.

Deals for Australia international Keanu Baccus and Bristol City wing-back Kane Wilson are also believed to be close, giving Ian Evatt plenty of time to get his squad gelled together before their opening fixture of the season against Lincoln City on August 5.

Midfield is clearly an area that Evatt wants to strengthen with Kieran Lee departing from his options this summer, and along with Baccus it is believed that German midfielder Florian Flick is a target.

German publication Bild first reported - via the Bolton News - that Wanderers had the 23-year-old on their list of targets this summer, and now Alan Nixon has written on Patreon that the club are hoping to land his signature on a loan deal from Bundesliga outfit Schalke.

However, even though work permit rules have been relaxed in the EFL from this season onwards, Bolton still reportedly face complications in bringing Flick to the country through the proper channels to make sure he can ply his trade in the United Kingdom.

Who is Florian Flick?

Flick is a 23-year-old defensive midfielder currently plying his trade for Schalke, although he started his professional career in the German fourth tier with Waldof Mannheim.

He earned a move to Schalke in 2020 and spent time in both their first-team and the second team, making his top flight debut in May 2021 and scoring his first goal for the club in the same month.

Flick has played 42 times for Schalke's senior side - mainly in the second tier in the 2021-22 season - and with game-time limited in the first half of the 2022-23 campaign, he was sent on loan to Nurnberg of the 2. Bundesliga, playing 16 times for them between his arrival and the end of the season.

Would Florian Flick be a good signing for Bolton?

If Ian Evatt is going to continue to playa 3-5-2 system then he needs plenty of midfield options.

Aaron Morley, Kyle Dempsey, Josh Sheehan and George Thomason are all good players in their own right, as is Keanu Baccus who they are eyeing up too, but there's plenty of matches over the season when you factor in league and cups.

Flick has experience of featuring at a good level in his native country of Germany, but it doesn't appear as though he has an immediate future at Schalke.

Therefore, if Bolton can get a loan deal tied up for the 23-year-old then it will be a shrewd addition.