Ian Evatt has revealed the processes which Bolton Wanderers have in place behind the scenes which has helped them in their summer transfer window recruitment.
Wanderers have been busy over the past month or two on the recruitment front and have added several reinforcements to the squad ahead of the League One campaign.
Xavier Amaechi has joined on a six-month loan deal from German side Hamburg, whilst central defenders Will Aimson and George Johnston, central midfielder Josh Sheehan, goalkeeper Joel Dixon and attacker Amadou Bakayoko have all put pen to paper on permanent deals at the club.
And two players Wanderers fans will already be familiar with in the form of Declan John and Oladapo Afolayan have joined the club on a permanent basis following successful loan spells last season.
In February, it was announced Chris Markham would join Bolton as the club’s technical performance director from the start of March, supporting manager Evatt to identify talent.
And Evatt has praised the job Markham has done in the time he has been with the club after joining from the FA, with the Bolton manager explaining the rigorous approach which is taken to assessing potential new signings before and after meeting them.
Evatt said: “He (Markham) has been a massive help, no doubt about it.
“What was also important was in January, we needed a quick fix. But we did that with League One in mind.Everyone laughed at me when we were 19 and 20 th , said we had no chance of going up, but I wanted players who could compete in League One as well.
“Kieran Lee was a good example, Declan John, Dapo Afolayan, MJ Williams – all players that I know can compete at the top end of League One.
“We got the job done and behind the scenes myself and Chris have worked tremendously hard to identify talent.
"There is a team of analysts behind Chris who watch game after game after game, wide-angle footage, filling in forms we have formulated on aspects of the game, in possession, out of possession, transition, strengths, weaknesses. We have watched hours of footage.
“After that it is down to the character referencing, meeting and speaking to them to make sure they fit culturally.
“We have done that, and I am really pleased with the business we have done so far.”
