Steven Schumacher has stated that he has no concerns over Bolton Wanderers’ failure to get Amario Cozier-Duberry back to the club.

The winger spent last season on loan with the Whites, where he helped the team achieve promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.

However, he has since returned to parent club Brighton, where he signed a new long-term contract.

On deadline day, the 21-year-old signed on loan with Middlesbrough for the rest of the season.

Bolton had been connected with a second loan deal with the Seagulls for the former Arsenal academy youngster.

However, he has elected to go up to last season’s play-off finalists, with Kim Hellberg’s team hoping to gain promotion to the Premier League this season.

Steven Schumacher tells up on the Amario Cozier-Duberry incident.

Schumacher has stated that he has no complaints about Bolton’s failure to bring Cozier-Duberry back to the club for another loan term, as he understands the allure of playing for a team vying for promotion to the Premier League.

He revealed that he never expected the Whites to be able to re-sign the 21-year-old this summer, and that he even believed the winger would stay and battle with Brighton this season.

“If I’m dead honest, I didn’t really expect to get Amario,” Schumacher told the BBC.

“I believed he could have stayed in Brighton.

Amario Cozier-Duberry’s stats 2025/26 – according to Fotmob.com

Stat

Per 90

Non-penalty goals.

0.22

Expected Goals (xG)

0.22

xG on target (GOT)

0.26

Shots

3.29

Shots on target.

1.09

Headed shots

1.09

“And if he didn’t stay at Brighton, we knew there was interest from Wolves and West Ham, and he ended up going to a team who lost the play-off final.

“So there’s no qualms about that.”

Cozier-Duberry contributed eight goals and 11 assists in 34 games in the regular League. One campaign last year helped Schumacher’s team finish fifth in the table.

He also played every minute of the play-offs, including scoring the winner in their first-leg 1-0 triumph over Bradford City, which helped the team advance 2-0 on aggregate.

However, he has finally finalised his move to Middlesbrough, where he might make his debut against QPR on Saturday.

Bolton Wanderers’ Summer Business
Bolton was fairly active in the transfer window, despite not signing several of their targets, including Cozier-Duberry.

Following their promotion from League One, the Championship club made 13 permanent signings, including Jayden Nelson, Luca Stephenson, Akim Famewo, Lewis Brunt, Gavin Bazunu, and Atsuki Ito.

Gaizka Larrazabal, David Watson, and Ben Davies all signed as free agents, while Samuel Iling-Junior, Theo Bair, and Ryan Hardie signed on loan.

Bolton’s next match is against Millwall on Saturday, with a 3pm kickoff at the Den.

Amario Cozier-Duberry’s signing was always unlikely for Bolton.

Cozier-Duberry performed admirably for Bolton last season, so it was only inevitable that the Whites would wish to retain him around for another year.

However, it was unsurprising that other clubs were interested in him following his strong League One achievements.

This made it unlikely that Bolton would be able to finalise another loan arrangement, and Schumacher seemed to have accepted this long ago.

A move to Middlesbrough is a significant step up from recently promoted Bolton, and he now has the opportunity to demonstrate his ability to compete at the top end of the Championship, and possibly even assist Borough win Premier League promotion.