Bolton Wanderers ready to sell Gary Cahill and Johan Elmander in January
English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers have alerted that they will be looking to sell their star defender Gary Cahill and in-form Swedish striker Johan Elmander in the January transfer window.
Bolton have recently announced their annual losses of about £35.4million, which is double the amount they had the previous year. Now the total debt has risen to £93million.
Cahill is hot property in the Premier League and was tracked by big clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal for some time.
The Wanderers Chairman Phil Gartside, now disclosed that he would have to sell the player in order to reduce the debt burden.
He told Bloomberg, “If a Champions League team knocks on our door in January that’s the best time to sell an asset because Champions League teams will pay the money”.
Another player that is tipped to leave the Trotters is Swedish striker Johan Elmander. The 29-year-old has been a consistent performer for his club and has scored 5 goals and 3 assists this season.
The current number 9 player’s contract is about to end in summer and when the January transfer window opens Elmander may have to be sold, says Gartside.
The in-form striker was signed for £8.2m from Toulouse in 2008. Many clubs have shown interest in signing him such as the Russian club Spartak Moscow and Turkish club Fenerbahce.
However, the 24-year-old defender's departure will hurt them the most. In addition, the fans will be most worried to lose their best defender. Cahill is one of the main reasons for Bolton’s success this season. They are currently ranked 6th in the league.
The Trotters chief has also been a board member of the Football Association. He is now calling for the limits to be imposed on high wages of Premier League players.
He said: “Owners should be allowed to invest in equity. So if you, as an owner, want to buy a striker for £10million that shouldn’t be a problem. But what you then can’t do is pay him extortionate wages that take you out of the break-even situation.”
He believes too many players are currently on high wages at his club. In summer, 9 players’ contracts will end and they will look closely at this situation if they would offer them a new contract.
Richard Scudamore, who is Chief Executive of the F.A. Premier League, is very disturbed about the financial state of the club as the debts are increasing and they must do something about it.
The Wanderers financial position is somewhat better than that of Portsmouth’s because most of the debt is not owed to the banks, instead club owner Eddie Davies himself is owed most of the debt.
During the 2009-10 season Pompey was reported to be £135million in debt and to save the club from liquidation the club was put into administration on 26th February 2010.
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