Only a few days after regaining promotion to the Championship, Bolton Wanderers have acted quickly to display ruthlessness with their team – which may be bad news for one fan favourite in particular.

Last season, Bolton manager Steven Schumacher overhauled the squad with the help of new Sporting Director Fergal Harkin and new Head of Recruitment Jimmy Dickinson, and the Trotters were finally promoted out of League One.

With many first-teamers let go or sold, 14 new acquisitions signed, and another seven arriving in the winter window, the club provided exceptional support to Schumacher in the 2025/26 season.

Despite immense pressure, the former Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City manager was able to return the faith shown in him by eventually leading Wanderers to promotion via the play-offs.

A 4-1 defeat of Stockport County at Wembley Stadium was followed by a civic reception at Bolton Town Hall just 24 hours later, but the celebrations have not slowed Bolton’s rapid response.

Just a day after the town centre celebration, Bolton confirmed that key players from the play-offs, including George Johnston, Kyle Dempsey, and Jordi Osei-Tutu, would not be retained, along with Carlos Mendes Gomes.

That was followed by a grateful farewell to their seven loanees, with no indication of talks beginning on any returns, as well as confirmation of the transfer of Szabolcs Schon to Gyori, where he had spent the season on loan.

With more links to David Watson and Luca Stephenson, it is evident that Bolton will be very busy this summer, and their ruthlessness may be terrible news for John McAtee.

John McAtee seems to be a possible casualty of another Bolton rebuild.

Walkden-born John McAtee, who had prospered in recent play-offs against Bolton while on loan at Barnsley (images above and below), was signed for an undisclosed fee from Luton Town in the summer of 2024 to spearhead Ian Evatt’s promotion-challenging Trotters.

In a season in which Bolton significantly underperformed pre-season expectations, resulting in Evatt’s departure midway through the campaign, McAtee showed flashes but failed to find rhythm and consistency, with the exception of an impressive spell as an out-and-out striker following Schumacher’s appointment.

In the club’s huge player turnover last summer, players with comparable profiles to McAtee, such as Mendes Gomes and Schon, as well as Aaron Collins and Klaidi Lolos, were released – however McAtee remained, despite rumours that Barnsley attempted to re-sign him before the window closed.

The maverick attacking midfielder, who claimed he wanted to be a ‘number ten’, spent much of the season on the fringes, dropping down the pecking order when Bolton signed a slew of new players in January, most notably Ruben Rodrigues.

McAtee was able to improve towards the end of the campaign and did play a vital role in Bolton’s ultimate promotion – but his links to Watson and demonstrated willingness to mix things up once more may have put an end to his Bolton career.

John McAtee was finally able to have an influence at Bolton.

Schumacher, who had relied on Rodrigues for much of the season’s final stretch, began to give McAtee more minutes and trust him to bring the Wanderers across the finish line.

Having previously been suspect in possession when protecting a lead, with a misplaced pass against Reading in August resulting in a late Royals equaliser and the former Grimsby Town man’s subsequent banishment from the squad, followed by those links to Barnsley, Schumacher surprisingly gave McAtee a key role as a ‘finisher’ at the end of key matches.

Most notably, his pass to release Thierry Gale down the left against Bradford City assisted Xavier Simons’ semi-final-clinching goal at Valley Parade, followed by his brilliant header to keep the ball alive for Sam Dalby’s acrobatic finish at Wembley Stadium.

Those moments, as well as his subsequent celebrations with Bolton supporters, have restored the always hardworking and tireless attacker’s status as a Lancashire fan favourite.

If Wanderers are to be ambitious this summer, those moments may, and perhaps should, be a proper and affectionate farewell to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

If Schumacher sticks with the 4-2-3-1 formation that got Bolton promoted, he will remain behind Rodrigues in the pecking order, and the signing of Watson will most certainly push him farther away from regular minutes.

To that end, the decision to express no feelings towards Johnston and Osei-Tutu in particular would imply that Bolton has plans in place that will render solid players who can occasionally put in a good performance or make some major contributions obsolete for the upcoming season.

A greater level of player is certainly desired, and, unlike mistakes made when jumping from League Two to League Back in 2021, sentimentality and a ‘they could do a job’ mentality appear to have no place in their recruitment strategy.

If McAtee leaves Bolton this summer, he will do so with the best wishes of the supporters, which may not have been the case a few months ago, given that he failed to demonstrate his abilities for much of his tenure at the club.

However, if McAtee does leave, it would be unsurprising considering the total result of his two seasons with the club and Bolton’s rather aggressive approach to business.