Boss happy with his business in the January transfer window
Dougie Freedman is pleased with the business Wanderers have done over the past month, with three new additions arriving on the final day of the January transfer window.
The Whites were able to add midfielder Medo Kamara from Partizan Belgrade, young centre back Cian Bolger from Leicester, as well as the loan arrival of Southampton’s Belgian winger Steve De Ridder before Thursday’s 11pm cut-off.
The deadline day trio joined fellow new recruits Craig Davies, Jan Gregus and Craig Dawson to provide more depth in the squad, and the Bolton boss was delighted to land his targets.
He said: “I told everyone at the beginning of January that I had three or four targets. Craig Dawson was number one and we got him ahead of five or six other clubs. Craig Davies coming in from Barnsley brings experience of playing at this level and represents great value for money.
“If I’m honest I didn’t think I had any chance of getting Medo, but he’s here. I went over to the airport to meet him because he’s a young guy coming over to a different country and I wanted to make him feel as welcome as possible.
“I’ve watched him for a long time. When he was playing in Helsinki I tried to bring him to Crystal Palace, but he ended up moving to Partizan instead. I believe he’ll be a fantastic signing for the club.”
The manager is also happy with the acquisitions of Gregus and Bolger, with the pair set to start out in Jamie Fullarton’s development squad.
“I brought Jamie Fullarton here to head up the development squad and that is something that is very important to us. I want to strengthen the that as well, hence the additions of Jan Gregus and Cian Bolger.
“With the financial fair play rules that are coming into football, bringing players in at a young age and putting them initially in the development squad is the only way to go.
“The new rules about spending that will be with us shortly mean that clubs are going to have to be very smart about the way they do their transfers and that’s what we’ve tried to bear in mind in this window.”