How close Bolton Wanderers are to signing Celtic and Charlton Athletic players.

Bolton Wanderers have made little progress in their pursuit of strikers Gassan Ahadme and Johnny Kenny. In recent weeks, the Trotters have made it clear that adding to Steven Schumacher’s list of number nines is a top priority.

A hamstring injury suffered by early signing Sam Dalby, combined with some departures, left Bolton short of goalscorers.

Mason Burstow, their starting centre-forward on the first day of the season, joined the Lancashire club less than a week after their 2-0 loss to Stockport County.

While Dalby is expected to return to action soon, the Wanderers are eager to add competition for him and the Hull City loanee.

Unfortunately, two of their main targets, Ahadme and Kenny, are no closer to joining the League One club than they were previously, according to the Bolton News.

Alan Nixon reported last week that they were considering making a second attempt to sign the former.

Bolton and Celtic have a £500,000 valuation difference, making a deal for the latter difficult to complete.

Bolton struggling to add to goalscoring options

Fortunately, Burstow has impressed since arriving. His hold-up and link-up abilities were on display for all to see against the Hatters, as was his physical transformation since his last League One appearance for Charlton Athletic at the age of 18.

On Saturday, he made his debut for the club against Plymouth Argyle, scoring with a simple first-time finish after some nice movement inside the box.

His emergence as a more than adequate first-choice talisman, combined with Dalby’s return, has alleviated some of the pressure on Schumacher and co.

to find another striker as soon as possible, despite the club’s struggles to sign one of their two named targets.

“Sam is on his way back and will train with minimal contact on Monday and Tuesday, and full contact on Thursday and Friday, so we’ll gradually build him up.

“Now, he’s going to need games because he didn’t play any in preseason, so he’ll take some time, but he’ll be ready in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we’ll keep looking for the other one that I believe we need.

“As of now, there is nothing to report on that front. But when we signed Mason, we knew he’d be a good player for us.

“He is strong, technically very good, he was in the right place for his goal, and it was a good finish because the delivery wasn’t easy.” If we can get two or three strikers who can all contribute, we’ll be in good shape.”

Bolton can’t rush their striker search – they already have good options

Assuming the 22-year-old loanee’s form does not deteriorate, Schumacher will soon have two solid striker options to choose from.

In that scenario, they can afford to be more selective about the players they pursue, and the ones they have been linked with, while promising, are far from proven entities.

Kenny has made less than ten first-team appearances for Celtic, so Bolton would be buying the 22-year-old solely for his potential.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing; he’s well-liked by their manager, Brendan Rodgers; however, giving in to the Scottish side’s demands may not be the best use of what could be £1 million. Charlton Athletic’s Moroccan attacker is also having a bad run in his career.

Ahadme, who joined the Addicks from Ipswich Town for a seven-figure fee last summer, has only scored four goals in all competitions.

Given that Bolton sold their top scorer from last season, Aaron Collins, for £800,000 earlier this summer, you’d expect them to be able to find a player of a similar calibre for a comparable fee.

Ahadme and Kenny aren’t on the Welshman’s level, so they should stick with what they have until a better option or price becomes available.

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