Bolton Wanderers are confident they will not face transfer embargo

Dougie Freedman revealed yesterday the club have cut costs over the last 12 months which ensure they will not exceed the allowed £8million losses, as stated in FFP guidelines.

While the exact implications of the incoming controversial regulations are still unclear, it is expected that clubs who flout the rules will be imposed with an embargo from New Year’s Day.

Freedman is confident the recent austere measures put in place at Wanderers will ensure no penalties are imposed on the club this season but conceded that the cuts have taken a significant toll on his squad.

“On Financial Fair Play, we’re there,” he said.

“The problem is when we came down from the Premiership we were spending a lot of money on players’ wages on two or three-year contracts. That is not a good situation at all.

“When we were looking to send players out on loan clubs were only looking to pay their market value, not the fortunes they were earning here. And that meant when you were looking to replace them, you didn’t have the cash.

“Give or take one or two players I think they have now balanced that out, so if we sell players we should be able to bring people in.” Wanderers’ parent company Burnden Leisure posted massive £50.6m losses in their last set of last financial accounts, raising the level of overall debt owed to Eddie Davies to around £150m. They have since become a private limited company, which means the amount of detail available in their accounts – still available for a fee from Companies House – could be limited when they are next published.

They are expected, however, to show massive savings have been made, particularly on a wage bill that is now less than half what it was when the club were relegated from the Premier League just over two years ago.

The news follows a report in The Bolton News’ sister paper, the Lancashire Telegraph, which revealed an embargo is likely at Blackburn Rovers after parent company Venky’s posted annual losses of £9m.