Is Marcos Alonso's Viola exit a done deal?

What's that? A player is finally coming good and he's about to leave Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer? Seems like Bolton Wanderers fans have heard that far too many times in recent years. The latest Trotter that seems all set to make this move is young Marcos Alonso, who, after two-and-a-half years of mediocrity and sitting on the sidelines, had finally taken his Bolton chance.

Alonso has made 13 appearances for Bolton Wanderers and scored two goals for the Trotters in the process. From the Boxing Day loss to Sheffield Wednesday on, Alonso has been nearly ever-present in the starting lineup for the men in white. The team had some good results, some not so good, and some pretty awful ones. Yet in all of that, you could hardly blame Marcos Alonso for the goals that Bolton Wanderers conceded.

When it came to the Sunderland replay and the away trip to Crystal Palace, it was then that he really showed just what it was that Bolton Wanderers paid for. Bolton, of course, had a pair of clean sheets in those two matches. In the Crystal Palace match, with Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie attacking his end interchangeably, Marcos Alonso kept them quiet.

After a lot of stop/starts, Marcos Alonso has finally come good for Bolton Wanderers and now, he's about to leave.

We know that Fiorentina have lodged an official bid for him and we know that Bolton Wanderers have rejected the bid as it was too low. Bolton originally paid Real Madrid £2 million for Alonso and, should Alonso move at the end of his deal, the Trotters will recoup at best 1/4 of that and at worst, nothing. It's not like Bolton Wanderers haven't tried to retain Alonso's services because according to Dougie Freedman, they have offered a contract, and it was a "very good" one at that. Alonso refused the offer though and seems keen to run out his time with Bolton.

There have been no indication that Bolton Wanderers will offer Alonso an improved deal or that if they were to do that, Alonso would accept. One source suggested that Alonso had already signed a contract with Fiorentina and the exit was in fact a done deal.

Of course, there are still six months left in his deal so anything could happen but we really wish it didn't have to bet this way.