Burnley's James Trafford sends 3-word message to Dion Charles after emotional Bolton Wanderers message | OneFootball

Charles' former Bolton teammate and current Burnley goalkeeper posted his message to the striker.

Dion Charles said his goodbyes to Bolton Wanderers in an emotional social media post after his transfer to League One rivals Huddersfield Town was confirmed this week.

The 29-year-old centre-forward called time on his Wanderers career after three fruitful years with the club on 15 January, after Bolton boss Ian Evatt revealed the club received an offer that was "deemed acceptable" for the striker.

Having signed for Bolton from Accrington Stanley in January 2022, the Northern Ireland international would go on to enjoy two full seasons scoring 20+ goals, establishing himself as one of the most prolific strikers in League One.

As such, he'd become a popular figure among the Wanderers faithful, scoring some big goals along the way. Therefore, when the time came to say goodbye, it was always going to be a highly emotional time.

Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford sends his message to former Bolton teammate Dion Charles

Following the confirmation that his transfer to Huddersfield Town was confirmed, Charles took to his Instagram to pen a lengthy goodbye message to everyone connected with Bolton Wanderers.

Charles wrote: "Wanderers, The last 3 years have been absolutely incredible and brought me some of the best moments of my career!

"Firstly, I want to thank everybody at @officialbwfc for making my time so enjoyable. I have enjoyed every minute of wearing the shirt.

"To the fans, Thank you for making me and my family feel so welcome at the club, I have memories that will stay with me forever…from my first goal at Shrewsbury away to Wembley in front of 35,000 of you! From the bottom of my heart I wish you all the best in the future. Dion Charles. 10💙🤍".

Numerous players responded to Charles' goodbye post, including former Wanderers goalkeeper and teammate of his, James Trafford. The Burnley goalkeeper kept it short but sweet with a three-word message, saying: "What a player ❤️".

Losing a striker who's posted 20 and 21 goal-seasons over the last two campaigns would hit any squad hard, and that won't be any different for Bolton Wanderers and Evatt.

It does mean that Wanderers are now fairly light on the ground in terms of recognised strikers, with just Aaron Collins, Victor Adeboyejo, John McAtee and Carlos Mendes available to the Bolton boss, who tends to deploy a two up-front approach.

With Collins and McAtte's best positions arguably being in midfield, Evatt's squad does have the look of one that has now been left without a natural and prolific centre-forward.

The 43-year-old manager has his fair share of critics and skeptics among the Bolton Wanderers support, and with the club sitting 10th in League One and four points outside the play-offs after 24 matches played, pressure is certainly growing on him to deliver results.

Having guided the club to back-to-back top-six finishes, and off the back of a play-off final defeat to Oxford United last season, finishing outside of the play-off places this season would be seen as a real step backwards in a campaign where promotion is the expectation once again.

Now with their popular and proven goalscorer gone to a direct promotion rival, there is a growing sense that the touchpapers of rebellion have been lit at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.