WANDERERS are locked in talks with Gary Madine over a new contract at the Macron.

The Bolton News understands negotiations are well underway to offer the striker improved terms on the two-year deal he signed last summer.

Madine leads the Whites’ scoring charts with 10 goals this season and has been subject to two rejected seven-figure bids from Cardiff City, plus interest from Hull City and Sunderland in the January window.

Wanderers are unwilling to sell for anything other than an “exceptional offer” and are looking to tie the 27-year-old down to an extra 12 months, which would secure their position if clubs came calling again in the summer.

Discussions are believed to be going well, with Madine looking to boost his wage to one which better reflects his importance in the squad.

His goal against Ipswich Town at the weekend ensured he became the first Bolton striker to hit double figures in successive seasons for a decade. And team-mate Karl Henry believes every effort should be made to keep him on board for the rest of the season.

“Gaz is scoring lots of goals at the moment and the club has got to do everything it can to keep him,” Henry said. “It is inevitable clubs are interested in him. We just hope the chairman here does what’s required and sorts Gary Madine out because we need him here.

“The club would be in a much better state being in the Championship and if he ends up going in the summer then so be it. To let him go now would be ludicrous and not to keep him happy now would be ludicrous.”

Wanderers are in the market to sign a new striker before deadline day but are operating on a limited budget compared with many of their contemporaries at the bottom end of the Championship.

It is believed a passing interest was shown in loaning Sheffield United striker Ched Evans but will not be pursued.

Wanderers have also been priced out of the race to sign Derby County’s Chris Martin, who looks set to sign for relegation rival Sunderland on loan.