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The loan window is still wide open for Football League and because of that, there are deals to be had. These deals may be marquee signings (like Jesse Lingard's move from Manchester United to Birmingham City) or diamonds in the rough (like Liam Feeney from Millwall to Bolton).
It isn't a secret that Dougie Freedman is looking to bolster the strength of his Bolton Wanderers side and he has done so already with three relatively low-key signings. A new report from the Mirror suggests that the Bolton boss is about to make a big splash in the loan market by bringing in Manchester United new boy / outcast / not David Moyes' favorite, Wilfried Zaha, for at least one month.
Zaha famously moved to Manchester United from Crystal Palace in January for a fee that would total £15 million when all was said and done. United loaned the player straight back to Palace, where he would stay for the whole of the 2012/13 season. In that campaign, Zaha would make 51 appearances in all competitions, scoring eight goals and assisting a further ten (which was less than 12 and 12, respectively, that Chris Eagles contributed).
The former Crystal Palace man has not made a single senior appearance for Manchester United outside of a starting stint in the Community Shield. He has been selected for the bench but David Moyes has not substituted the player in at all.
Dougie Freedman of course worked with Zaha at Crystal Palace in his time as manager. Wilfired Zaha had already been an established player with the Eagles but really flourished at the club in his time with Freedman.
Bolton had reportedly been in for Wilfried Zaha before, during Owen Coyle's tenure. The former manager claimed that he had the opportunity to sign Zaha for some £3 million but the funds were not made available. Of course, Coyle went on to pay £2 million for Matt Mills, £1.5 million for Tim Ream, and £3 million for Marvin Sordell.
Whether this is what Bolton Wanderers need is an entirely different question. Chung-Yong Lee has been out of form what is seemingly ages and Chris Eagles has been stop-start at best as of late. Liam Feeney has injected some much needed urgency into the side and perhaps Zaha's knowledge of the Championship could help matters. What Bolton Wanderers need at the moment is a left back, given Marc Tierney's extended injury and a creative midfielder certainly wouldn't hurt matters at all. Still, if a player of Zaha's perceived caliber comes along, would Bolton really be wise to reject that? Then there's the question of money and where the funds to pay the player's wages would come from.
Either way, at the moment, it's just a report from the Mirror and that's that.