Trotters chief remaining tight-lipped on his attempts to sign in-demand Hatters attacker

Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt is remaining tight-lipped over his efforts to sign Luton attacker John McAtee.

The 24-year-old, who hasn’t made his first team debut for Luton since signing two years ago, is expected to leave Kenilworth Road during the summer transfer window, as having featured in both of Town’s friendly matches in Slovenia during their warm weather training camp, has been left out of the matches against Dundee United and Celta Vigo recently.

The Trotters, whose manager is a firm friend of Luton chief Rob Edwards having played with the Town boss at Blackpool, are one of a number of clubs linked with McAtee’s signature, after the former Grimsby and Scunthorpe frontman had a fine season on loan with League One Barnsley last term, scoring 15 goals in 45 outings.

Asked directly about the attacker whom Luton run the risk of losing for free next summer if they don’t offload him now, Evatt wasn’t giving anything away though as speaking to the Bolton News, he said: “I am going to give you a really rubbish answer here – his manager is one of my good friends in football and I am not going to speak about anyone’s players until they become our own. He’s Rob Edwards’ player and that is where our respect lies.

“We are still a little bit light but the amount of work going on behind the scenes is huge. I’ve made the comments on Tuesday about us valuing everything and sticking to our principles because it is important we do that, we’ll continue to do that, but this squad will be stronger by the end of the window. We will also get players more up to speed and there is development in our performance level.”