Bolton Releases Captain Johnston in Summer Shake-Up

The image of George Johnston lifting Bolton Wanderers back into the Championship at Wembley will live a long time in the memory. It will also be his last significant act in a Bolton shirt.

The club’s longest-serving current player, captain on Sunday in the League One play-off final win over Stockport, has been released as Steven Schumacher begins a ruthless rebuild for life in the second tier.

Johnston, 27, leaves after five years at the club and 188 appearances, a central figure in Bolton’s climb from the depths of League One back towards the upper reaches of the English pyramid. The centre-back, who came through Liverpool’s academy before a spell at Feyenoord, has been a constant presence through managerial changes, squad overhauls and promotion pushes. Now, on the back of the club’s biggest high in years, his time is up.

The clear-out does not stop with the captain.

Jordi Osei-Tutu, who started alongside Johnston in that Wembley XI, will also depart this summer. The 27-year-old right-back, signed from German side Bochum, made 80 appearances across his two-year stay after arriving in August 2024. His energy and attacking intent down the flank helped shape Bolton’s style, but the club have chosen to move on as they reshape a Championship-ready back line.

The midfield is being stripped back as well. 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 step up a level. Carlos Mendes Gomes also exits, having spent most of the 2025-26 campaign on loan at Exeter City and never quite forcing his way into Schumacher’s long-term plans.

This is not a gentle evolution. It is a reset.

Schumacher faces a busy and delicate summer. The promotion charge leaned heavily on loan talent, and that group is now heading back to their parent clubs. Johnny Kenny, Rob Apter, Ibrahim Cissoko, Marcus Forss, Corey Blackett-Taylor, Mason Burstow and Amario Cozier-Duberry are all returning, leaving significant gaps across the pitch.

Bolton’s bench and matchday squads have often been built on that borrowed quality. Now the manager must find permanent answers at Championship level, with recruitment needing to be sharp, targeted and quick. The feel-good glow of Wembley will not mask the size of the job.

There is movement abroad too. Szabi Schon’s time at the club is officially over after Hungarian champions ETO FC Gyor triggered their option to sign him permanently. The 25-year-old Hungary midfielder made 44 appearances for Wanderers and spent last season on loan at Gyor, impressing enough for the deal to be completed.

In a matter of days, the squad that walked out at Wembley has started to splinter. Promotion has brought joy, but it has also brought hard decisions and a blunt reminder of the step up in class that awaits.

Johnston leaves as a promotion-winning captain and a symbol of Bolton’s rebuild from leaner years. Now the club he helped drag upwards must prove it can stay there without him.