GARY Megson failed in his bid to bolster his squad before the transfer window closed.

The Wanderers manager wanted at least two new players ahead of yesterday’s 5pm deadline.

But, after several attempts to strengthen his threadbare team, the Bolton boss was left empty-handed. The lack of action is sure to have left both manager and fans disappointed, especially as Megson was believed to have had a sizeable transfer chest at his disposal, boosted further by last week’s £4million sale of Kevin Nolan to Newcastle.

But there was to be no final-day drama at the Reebok.

Wanderers will have been particularly frustrated at their failure to land Sporting Lisbon’s Miguel Veloso.

The club had pursued the 22-year-old midfielder for several weeks after making him their number one target.

An initial bid of £12m was rejected, though Bolton are thought to have returned with an improved £13.5 offer for the Portugese international.

However, hopes of landing Veloso came to an end yesterday when the player’s agent insisted he was staying at Sporting.

Wanderers also had a £1.5m offer for Sean Davis rejected by Portsmouth.

Megson wanted the 29-year-old after seeing bids for West Brom’s James Morrison, Jimmy Bullard, now at Hull, and Newcastle’s Joey Barton turned down last month.

Scottish giants Rangers claimed they refused a bid from Bolton to sign Pedro Mendes, while links with Wigan’s Paul Scharner, James Harper, of Reading, and Cardiff’s Joe Ledley came to nothing.

In fact, the only permanent new arrival during the window was Mark Davies, a £1m capture from Wolves, while French defender Sebastien Puygrenier and Portugese striker Ariza Makukula arrived on loan deals until the end of season from Zenit St Petersburg and Benfica respectively.