Wanderers plan to make up to four more signings in the coming weeks with Ian Evatt pledging his squad will be stronger than ever after the close of the transfer window.

The Bolton boss has promised the arrival of Hungarian Szabolcs Schön will not be the last major deal done this summer.

Attention has shifted towards the opening game of the season at Leyton Orient on Saturday, the Whites warming up in style with a comfortable 3-0 win at Port Vale in their final friendly.

Speaking after the game, Evatt told The Bolton News that a nervous few weeks spent waiting for developments on the transfer front could soon come to an end.

“I think you are going to see developments, and it evolve,” he said. “We are probably three light, potentially four, but we will see how things develop in this window.

“We have worked hard we know what we want and what those players look like. Yes, we have had to be patient, but we are working very hard to make it happen.”

As we revealed last month, Luton Town’s local-born striker John McAtee is one of the players coveted by Wanderers. The 25-year-old also has been made available for transfer and has offers in the Championship and from League One rivals Wrexham – but Evatt declined the opportunity to comment directly on the state of negotiations.

“I am going to give you a really rubbish answer here – his manager is one of my good friends in football and I am not going to speak about anyone’s players until they become our own,” he said. “He’s Rob Edwards’ player and that is where our respect lies.”

Wanderers paid a hefty fee to bring Schön to the club last week, having worked for more than a year to expand their scouting network and data into central Europe.

The wing-back made his first start at Vale and even though he has eight international caps and experience abroad in MLS and Dutch club Ajax, Evatt admits his arrival does represent a calculated risk.

“Recruitment is everything, really, but it is also extremely challenging,” he said.

“Everybody behind the scenes is working extremely hard.

“Football in general, you are probably looking at a 50 per cent success rate on recruitment. What we are trying to do is raise that a little bit.

“We are going to get stuff wrong, of course we will, we are only human, but we are trying to limit the risk as best we can. There is an unbelievable amount of work going on behind the scenes to bring the right people to this football club.”

Evatt reiterated that Wanderers will not pay over their valuation of transfer targets but is confident he can bring in the right players by the close of the window.

Looking ahead to the start of the League One season, the Bolton boss said his focus was still on improvement.

He said: “I think we can still be better, in all aspects, on the pitch with our performances and also the squad in general can be strengthened. And we will do that.

“We are still a little bit light but the amount of work going on behind the scenes is huge. I’ve made the comments on Tuesday about us valuing everything and sticking to our principles because it is important we do that, we’ll continue to do that, but this squad will be stronger by the end of the window.

“We will also get players more up to speed and there is development in our performance level.”