NEW boss Ian Evatt will get the necessary resources to make his attacking brand of football work at Bolton Wanderers.

Head of football operations, Tobias Phoenix, officially welcomed his number one target to the University of Bolton Stadium yesterday, pledging to give the new head coach every bit of help he could to launch a tilt for League Two promotion next season.

Evatt wants to cherry-pick the best options available to suit the expansive, possession-based style he plans to bring to the UniBol.

And though Phoenix admits there are still ‘unknowns’ with regard to the pandemic and when football will officially return – making budgeting more difficult – he is confident Bolton will be able to attract a top brand of player this summer.

“Pre-pandemic and outside of a wage cap the board were going to give us the tools to bring the players to the club that we want,” he said. “We’re not looking to be a cash cow for players or agents – that isn’t the way we see it. We’re not going to buy our way out of the division.

“But we are going to recruit strategically, we’re working on blueprint for player types – how they are like on and off the pitch – because how they are around a football club is really important.

“We’ll work within our means and deliver the best players we possibly can for Bolton Wanderers Football Club.”

Should salary caps be voted in, Wanderers could be restricted to spending just £1.5million on salaries next season.

And while that decision will have a profound effect on football’s economy, Phoenix believes his own club could be better placed than most to take advantage of nearly 1,500 free agents who are now on the market.

“Salary caps don’t make any difference to my day – it’ll be outside my control, it’ll be outside of Ian’s control,” he said. “The difference for us is that we have a blank canvass. I have £1.5million to spend.

“If you already have ‘x amount’ in your building then you are working on the difference being headroom.

“We have physically got all the money to spend, so we can look at the positives. We’ve pressed the reset button and whatever tools we’re given by the board or the EFL we’ll maximise the value for money bringing players in.”

Phoenix also argues that Wanderers will be a big pull for talent this summer – both in terms of their facilities and the style of football that Evatt is going to employ, which is why the boat was pushed out to bring the 38-year-old in from Barrow at a six-figure cost.

“It would have been really easy to have taken a manager or head coach who has been around a bit longer, with a slightly different CV,” he said. “We were blessed with many, many applications and, for the record, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to apply. The standard of applicants would through the roof.

“But as soon as we got the opportunity to speak with Ian there was only one man for this job. The board have been excellent, and Andy Gartside has worked really hard to help that process.”