WANDERERS have taken up an option to extend the contracts of Rob Holding and Kaiyne Woolery next season.

The Bolton News understands the Whites have activated a clause in both players’ contracts to extend their deal by 12 months – and the same choice will also be taken on a handful of other youngsters soon.

The news is bound to come as a relief to Wanderers fans who feared losing Holding and Woolery to the lottery of a tribunal in the summer.

Bournemouth and Everton are among the Premier League clubs who have monitored player-of-the-year Holding in the last year, and Reading also had a £400,000 offer turned down in January.

The 20-year-old has been the breakthrough star in a disappointing campaign but has expressed his eagerness to help the club bounce back immediately from relegation in League One.

Holding only made his debut last August against Burton Albion in the Capital One Cup but has since commanded a regular spot in the back four, making 30 appearances so far and scoring his first goal for the club against MK Dons in January.

Co-owner Dean Holdsworth believes Holding could captain Wanderers in the future and after Gareth Southgate was spotted in the stands during Saturday’s 1-0 win against Hull City, he has tipped the youngster for international football too.

“We think very highly of Rob and I think he could play England Under-21s, he’s that good,” he told The Bolton News. “He is consistent, come through the academy, and the kind of player we feel we can build a team on.”

Woolery has also attracted admiring glances from elsewhere, with ambitious Oxford United attempting to sign him during the last transfer window.

Signed from non-league Tamworth for £75,000, the pacy striker spent some time at Notts County on loan last season and was handed his debut against Birmingham City by Neil Lennon last October.

He scored his first goal for the club a few months later, sealing a last-minute win against Rotherham United, and also netted in a 2-1 defeat at Leeds United.

The 21-year-old now has 19 appearances under his belt and, according to Holdsworth, is improving game by game.

“We like Kaiyne, he’s still learning in the game but he has ability and raw pace and we think he will do very well for us in League One next season,” he said.