Bolton Wanderers now set to sign Southampton goalkeeper on a permanent deal

As reported yesterday, the Whites were interested in communicating with Saints over a deal, although the interest was led to be muted due to Bolton's lack of priority in the area and delegation of funds. Now it appears that Wanderers will get hold of the 24-year-old, and do so on permanent deal, rather than the loan that was initially suggested.

Bazunu joined Southampton for £12 million in 2022 from Manchester City, after a strong loan spell at rivals Portsmouth. From their he would go on to be the team's leading goalkeeper, helping the team return to the Premier League, before spending the best part of two seasons out on-loan at Standard Liege and Stoke City.

The shot stopper is well known to Bolton's Sporting Director, Fergal Harkin, whom he worked with in spells at Manchester City and Standard Liege.

Steven Schumacher stated earlier in the window that the goalkeeping area was not a priority, but did say he would like to bring in a veteran as competition for Jack Bonham, something that has been on the backburner ever since. A move for free agent Asmir Begovic was rumoured, but Bolton now look set to sign Bazunu after Southampton made a deal work for both parties.

The Ireland international has played 66 times in the Championship and 32 times in the Premier League. At 24, his career has lost it's way a little bit, but a new home and fresh start can change a lot for anyone.

Bazunu will be the second Manchester City Academy goalkeeper to play for Wanderers in recent years, after fan-favourite James Trafford did so for two season between 2022 and 2023.

It is unknown whether Bazunu will take over from Bonham or compete for the starting position, but the shot stopper will help strengthen a Bolton team that appears to be getting better as time goes on.

With Bazunu on the way, we spoke to sports writer, Southampton correspondent and fan, Alex Comber to find out just where his spell at St Marys went wrong.

"Unfortunately, Gavin Bazunu’s time at Southampton did not go according to plan. However, I think most Saints fans will agree that there was never too much of a plan anyway. Signed in 2022 as the starting goalkeeper for a sinking ship of a Premier League side as an inexperienced 20-year-old, he began like a lamb to the slaughter.

"Bazunu was given another chance in Southampton’s 2023/24 campaign despite clearly being out of his depth in the top flight. A great player with his feet, as most Manchester City Academy players are these days, Russell Martin loved Bazunu’s ability to build out from the back. But that’s as far as my praise goes.

"As a shot-stopper, Bazunu is exceptionally poor. Over the season and a half in the Championship that he was entrusted as the Saints' No. 1 under Martin and Will Still, he’s sat bottom of the Goals Prevented metric. Bazunu conceded 11 goals more than the data said he should have in 2023/24, and it wasn’t much better last season when he kept net, despite most fans hoping a loan at Standard Liege the season prior would have improved him.

"The same story continued for Stoke City in the second half of last season, where he made a couple of howling mistakes. Bazunu’s positioning is very poor, and his reflexes don’t often save him - often it looks as if he’s flapping in the air.

"I’d be surprised if he’s gone to Bolton to play second fiddle, considering he left Southampton on loan in January as he didn’t want to sit around and not play, with Daniel Peretz coming in to shore things up. Gavin seems a very nice lad, very humble, but I’ll be very surprised if he proves a good signing for Bolton. I hope he proves me wrong!"