Bolton Wanderers missed out on deal for Leeds United hero | OneFootball

The Trotters were close to signing Liam Cooper, but they were unable to fully seal a deal in the end.

League One side Bolton Wanderers missed out on a deal to sign former Leeds United centre-back Liam Cooper.

This has been revealed by the Bolton News, with the third-tier outfit previously close to recruiting the experienced defender, but failing to get a deal over the line for him in the end.

Wanderers could have benefitted from a player of his calibre, having suffered a major setback at the end of last season.

They missed out on automatic promotion in the end, but had the chance to redeem themselves in the play-offs and secure a Championship return that way.

Despite a second leg defeat against Barnsley, they managed to secure a place in the play-off final against Oxford United.

Arguably, the U's were the underdogs ahead of their play-off semi-final against Peterborough United, but managed to retain a small lead to book their place at Wembley.

Bolton were perhaps the slight favourites heading into the crucial clash in the English capital, and despite managing to make a respectable start to the game, they were poor for much of it.

Josh Murphy's deflected shot gave Oxford the lead - and he was able to add a second before half-time - latching on to Ruben Rodrigues' excellent through ball and keeping his composure to put the U's 2-0 up at the break.

Bolton did try and put the pressure on late on in the game, but in truth, they never came close enough and Oxford could have won by a bigger margin on the day.

Murphy was especially threatening and undoubtedly the man of the match.

Bolton, meanwhile, were extremely poor for much of the game and failed to carry much of a threat, leaving Ian Evatt with plenty of work to do over the break.

They weren't able to make the best start to this season either, but they have been able to get themselves back on track since then and will be hoping to build on that after the international break.

Bolton were previously keen on Cooper, who left Leeds in the summer.

It has even been reported that Cooper was close to securing a move to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

However, CSKA Sofia won the race for his signature in the end and the Scotland international is now plying his trade out in Bulgaria.

During the previous international break, Evatt looked at potential free agents to fill the last free spot in his squad, but he won't be making any further moves now until the January window opens.

Liam Cooper could have been a useful addition for Bolton Wanderers

Bolton have been on the rise in recent years.

However, their setback at Wembley was a big one for the club, because they performed so poorly in the English capital.

After such a heartbreaking defeat, having someone like Cooper, who has suffered similar and has a huge amount of experience under his belt, would have been useful.

His Leeds United team missed out on promotion at the end of Marcelo Bielsa's first season at Elland Road.

That was a heartbreaker considering it was against Derby County, with the pair being embroiled in the Spygate scandal earlier that season. Leeds were expected to win that game, but they fell apart during the second leg.

Fortunately for the Whites, they were able to come through that and win promotion at the end of the following campaign. Cooper's experience at Elland Road would have been useful at Bolton, but Wanderers can't afford to look back at this failed deal too much.