Bolton Wanderers' hopes of bringing Marlon Fossey back to the club this summer appears to be over owing to interest from the Championship.
The wing-back spent part of the second half of the season on loan at Wanderers from newly promoted Premier League side Fulham. Fossey played 16 times and scored once after moving to the club at the start of January in an impressive spell.
His loan at the Whites was cut short due to injury following a torn meniscus. He then returned to his parent club to recover for the remainder of the campaign and now appears to be back towards full fitness.
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Fossey has a year left on his deal at Craven Cottage. Wanderers and Ian Evatt had made no secret of the fact that would like to sign the wing-back this summer.
However, the Manchester Evening News understands that interest from the division above appears to have brought a halt to the ambitions League One Wanderers had of bringing Fossey back to the club this transfer window. Championship side Preston North End has been mentioned as a potential rival to Wanderers for Fossey's services, though LancsLive had reported that though PNE has been put to the player as a potential option, there has been no interest expressed on North End's part as of yet.
Before his loan spell prematurely ended, Fossey had spoken on his future and admitted that though he was enjoying his time at Bolton, the next step in his career this summer would not be an easy process to navigate.
He said in March: "All I can say is I’m enjoying my time here. It’s been definitely one of the more high periods of my career and as you guys (the media) know, it’s not as easy as what the player wants or what the club wants. We’ll see what happens but I’m enjoying my time here and I’m looking forward to the last games.
“I don’t know what Fulham are thinking at the moment. I’m sure they’re watching me but we’ve got games to go and we’ll see after the games. We’ll get to that discussion but right now, I’m just trying to help Bolton get as high as they can before my loan agreement’s up."
Speaking before the end of the season, Wanderers boss Evatt admitted the League One side had a 'chance' of landing Fossey, but there were 'ifs, buts and maybes' in terms of getting a deal done.
