Bolton Captain Johnston Released as Squad Reshuffles After Promotion

The image of George Johnston lifting Bolton Wanderers back into the Championship at Wembley will linger. It has to. Because within days of that promotion, the club’s longest-serving current player has been told his time is up.

Johnston, 27, who captained Wanderers in Sunday’s League One play-off final win over Stockport, will leave this summer after five years of service and 188 appearances. From the dark days of rebuilding to the glare of Wembley, he has been a constant. Now he becomes a casualty of the very progress he helped engineer.

A product of Liverpool’s academy and once on the books at Feyenoord, Johnston arrived as a defender to build around. Instead, he departs as a symbol of how quickly a squad must evolve once the Championship beckons.

He is not alone.

Right-back Jordi Osei-Tutu, another starter under the arch at Wembley, is also heading for the exit. The 27-year-old, signed from German side Bochum in August 2024, made 80 appearances in two years and grew into a reliable outlet on the flank. His contribution ends just as the club steps onto a bigger stage.

Midfield Departures

The clear-out continues in midfield. Kyle Dempsey, an unused substitute in the play-off final, has been released, drawing a line under his Bolton spell at the very moment the club climbs a division. Carlos Mendes Gomes follows him out, having spent most of the 2025-26 campaign on loan at Exeter City and never quite forcing his way into Steven Schumacher’s long-term plans.

Promotion often brings a hangover in the form of a stripped-back squad. Bolton are no exception. A raft of loan players will now return to their parent clubs: Johnny Kenny, Rob Apter, Ibrahim Cissoko, Marcus Forss, Corey Blackett-Taylor, Mason Burstow and Amario Cozier-Duberry all depart after playing their part in the push out of League One.

The pressure on Schumacher is clear. He has his promotion. Now he needs a Championship squad to match the badge and the ambition.

One more departure underlines the scale of the rebuild. Szabi Schon has completed a permanent move to Hungarian champions ETO FC Gyor after two years with Wanderers. The 25-year-old Hungary midfielder made 44 appearances for Bolton but spent last season on loan at Gyor, who have now triggered the option to sign him outright.

So Bolton head into the summer with momentum, a manager with credit in the bank, and a dressing room that suddenly feels a lot emptier. The next signings will decide whether Wembley was a destination—or just the start of a much longer journey.