Forgotten Wanderers #9 - Akin Bulent

Here we are, friends, in the pantheon of forgotten Bolton Wanderers players.

Episode 9 brings us to one Akin Bulent. Or Bulent Akin if you agree with traditional Turkish naming convention.

Although born in Brussels, Belgium, Bulent turned professional in 1999 with Denizlispor before going on to join the famous Istanbul club Galatasaray in 2000.

His two years at the club brought his name to wider attention, and he impressed making some 32 appearances in those two seasons including several in the Champions League.

He moved to Bolton in 2002 under freedom of contract, in the same year that Sam Allardyce signed Ivan Campo from Real Madrid on loan.

Bulent would only make one appearance for the club - in a 0-1 home League Cup loss to Bury, in which the player was sent off in the 64th minute following two yellow cards. It was a pointless kind of sending off - and one that tarnished his time at the club so much that he was soon released again.

Allardyce said:

"We decided from both our points of view that another club would be a better avenue for Akin,"

"It's a huge disappointment for both of us on the back of what his CV suggested when he came to us."

"Having to overcome a cruciate ligament repair held him back and I was not willing to take a risk and see what he can do."

Rumours abound of in-fighting between Bulent and other members of the squad, with one urban myth stating that a knife was pulled in one argument between the player and Djibril Diawara. I have no idea whether it's true or not, but it sounds good doesn't it?

He joined the wonderfully exotic-sounding Akçaabat Sebatspor, before taking in spells with Gençlerbirliği, Malatyaspor, Türk Telekomspor, İstanbulspor, MVV, Gölbaşıspor, Yeni Malatyaspor and finally Gölbaşıspor where he retired from the game in 2012. Definitely a case of unfulfilled potential.