Is Sebastien Le Toux On His Way To Becoming A Bolton Player?

Oh Le Toux, Le Toux. He's Frencher than me or you. He'll score us a goal or two (or three)! Oh Le Toux, Le Toux.

The hot rumor involving Bolton Wanderers and what may be their latest acquisition of the day involves French forward Sebastian Le Toux who is currently on the books of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union. The news/rumor broke this afternoon via Fox Soccer's Ives Galarcep who claimed that Bolton were looking into the Frenchman's signature to help with their attacking woes. The rumor only got more interesting after Le Toux tweeted that he was "on a jet plane to England."

There are a number of benefits to this move and it could very easily prove to be a win-win situation for both parties. Le Toux is 28 years old and has some pace about him. He is also known for being comfortable on the ball and having the ability to finish. Prior to joining the Philadelphia Union, Le Toux had an underrated stint at Seattle Sounders, playing for their USL (then second tier US Soccer) side before making the trip up to MLS. Before that, he had made 15 appearances for Ligue 2 side Lorient in France.

Since being picked up by Philadelphia in the Major League Soccer expansion draft, Le Toux has made 62 appearances for the Union, scoring 25 goals and creating 20 assists in that period. 2010 was the better of his two seasons with the Union where he finished with 14 league goals and was a nominee for the league's Most Valuable Player award.

Le Toux should not be an expensive purchase thanks to his age and the fact that MLS is the highest league that he has played in. The wage bill is also not a figure that should trouble Bolton. Major League Soccer makes all player salaries available publicly and in 2011, Le Toux was payed $179,000 for the entire season. To put that in perspective, Gary Cahill will make that amount in just over one and a half weeks in Chelsea.

He is adept in a traditional forward's role or being pushed out wide and can challenge for the third striker role at Bolton this season with Kevin Davies still on the outside looking in. Since Le Toux holds a French passport, he would not be subject to the work visa process that fellow MLS All Star Tim Ream is currently going through.

Owen Coyle (along with a number of other clubs) have recently discovered MLS as a source of competent, inexpensive talent with players that are able to grow. Coyle is now hoping to get the signatures of two of the league's more prominent names.