Bolton mulling move for midfielder Mile Jedinak?

To date, the men that manager Dougie Freedman has moved from Crystal Palace to Bolton have all been staff members. Freedman and his assistants are yet to bring any Eagles players north. That may be about to change though as a number of reports are saying that Bolton Wanderers area looking to make a move for Mile Jedinak.

Mile Jedinak is a 28-year-old defensive midfielder who came to Crystal Palace from Turkish club Gençlerbirliği in 2011. He is also an established player for the Socceroos, the Australia men's national football team (the ladies are the Matildas), having made 37 appearances for them. Jedinak was also involved in the 2010 World Cup for Australia, making their 23-man squad and playing against Germany in the competition.

Jedinak was brought to Crystal Palace by Dougie Freedman in 2011 after leaving Gençlerbirliği with a year still on his deal. He made 35 appearances in all competitions last season but has really asserted his position this year, starting all but one league match for Crystal Palace. Jedinak is also a tall midfielder, standing just a bit higher than Marcos Alonso, and is well regarded for his tackling ability as well as willingness to win balls in the air.

Mile and Dougie highly regard each other, as was made pretty clear when Jedinak first moved to England. Upon the news of his transfer, Mile said:

"I am delighted to be joining Crystal Palace Football Club at this stage in my career. I am impressed by Dougie Freedman and what he wants to achieve at the club and I cannot wait to get started.

"Crystal Palace has a fantastic heritage and a wonderful set of fans and I am looking forward to playing in front of them at Selhurst Park.

"Playing in the UK has always been an ambition of mine and I am totally determined to make my time here an absolute success."

Dougie added:

"I am absolutely delighted with this signing. I have tracked Mile for some time since he was first brought to our attention by Tony Popovic and his contacts in Australia.

"Mile has a fantastic international pedigree and I know he will be a huge success at the club. Mile attracted attention from a number of clubs and I am so pleased that he finally chose Crystal Palace."

Now, you may be thinking "what do we need another central midfielder for?" Well, Jay Spearing won't be around after this season ends as a permanent move seems to be out of the question. Keith Andrews has had achilles injuries for the last month or so and is getting on a bit in age (he's 32 right now). Stu Holden and Josh Vela are just coming back from their respective knee injuries and full playing returns could still be a ways off. Mark Davies is still on the injury list and faces up to another two months out.

Jedinak still has some 18 months left on his current Crystal Palace contract and the Eagles will not be forced into a relatively cheap sale.