Bolton Wanderers linked with England U21 defender

The January transfer window is fast approaching (just four days away) and that means players are being linked with teams. The first player to be really solidly linked with Bolton Wanderers, well, he's one that the fans should be able to get behind. He's young, he's tall, and he's a defender.

He is West Bromwich Albion and England U21 defender Craig Dawson and he is in Dougie Freedman's sights.

Dawson, 22 years old, started his career at Radcliffe Borough before moving to Rochdale in 2009 for just over a season. He was snapped up by West Brom on summer deadline day at the start of the 2010/11 season and has since not had too much of a chance to make an impression. Part of that is due to the fact that he was loaned right back to Rochdale for the whole of the 2010/11 season (where he made 45 appearances and scored 10 goals).

To date, he has only made eight Premier League appearances for West Brom with a further four in the League Cup and one in the FA Cup. So far this season, he has been named to the Baggies' bench seven times this season but has not been called upon once.

According to the Daily Mirror, West Brom rate Craig Dawson at somewhere around £3 million. That number doesn't seem like a lot but in recent years, it has been too rich for Bolton's blood. The Mirror states that Bolton are willing to buy but would like to try first and will hope to take Dawson on loan for the remainder of this season. At the moment, Bolton are currently using three of their six available loan spots with Jay Spearing, Benik Afobe, and Jacob Butterfield on the books.

Dawson has ten caps for England U21s with five goals to his name (that is more caps and goals than Marvin Sordell who has nine and three, respectively) as well as three appearances for Team Great Britain during the London Olympics.