PHIL Parkinson wants Wanderers to play for keeps in their striker search.

The Whites boss is hoping Ken Anderson will sanction hard cash to spend on a new front man before the start of the Championship season.

Parkinson has been offered a number of quality loan options – but believes the wisest course of action would be to invest in a player owned entirely by the club.

Bradford City’s Charlie Wyke is believed to be at the top of the Whites’ shortlist, although Sunderland and Peterborough United are also hoping to land the 25-year-old, who has scored 41 goals in his previous two seasons.

“If you get a loan striker, of Championship standard, you are going to pay a significant loan fee,” Parkinson told The Bolton News. “They are not cheap. Players who have done it at this level before will command anything from £500,000 to £1million. That’s the reality. And you still don’t own them at the end of it.

“Right at the start of the summer we discussed this and said we’d be better bringing in someone of our own, work with him, who can become an asset.”

Parkinson has already worked his magic on Gary Madine – brought in as a squad player by ex-Bolton boss Neil Lennon but polished into one of the Championship’s top target men before his £6m move to Cardiff City.

“Strikers can progress quickly, as Gary showed,” Parkinson said. “Everybody knows we’re a long, long way short of having a squad capable of competing at Championship level.

“It’s difficult. Ken is looking at one or two striker options but we need those players in. We need to be strong in all departments.

“We’ve got other areas we need to strengthen but the striker area is a key one. We need strength in depth.”

The asking price for Wyke could be up to £1m, and League One Sunderland have already seen one six-figure bid turned down in the last few days.

Wanderers have not paid cash for a player since January 2015, when Lennon added Celtic’s Filipe Twardzik to his ranks on January deadline day.