ONE of the biggest earners for Wanderers on deadline day could come from a player who hasn’t pulled on a Bolton shirt in 18 months.

Burnley are targeting a move for former Academy graduate Rob Holding, and have already seen one bid turned down by Arsenal for his services.

Wanderers will be keeping a watchful eye as the situation develops, as they have a hefty sell-on clause in the defender’s contract, which was inserted when he left the Macron in July 2016.

Clarets boss Sean Dyche is keen to bring another defender on board after watching his side go eight games without victory but may have to wait and see whether the Gunners sign £20million target Jonny Evans from West Brom ahead of Manchester City.

Several reports yesterday claimed Burnley had made an offer to take the 22-year-old on loan – but it is understood a permanent deal has also been discussed if the Evans transfer goes ahead.

Holding has started just five Premier League games this season at the Emirates, and only twice since October – the last of which was a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth.

The youngster’s exit was deemed a controversial one at the time, with fans unhappy at the £2.5million fee received by Wanderers as they were relegated into League One.

But the club has already benefited from a number of bonuses which were inserted into his contract.

Ken Anderson agreed an early pay-out on a bonus for league appearances back in November to help with Wanderers’ cashflow.

Another payout came Bolton’s way when Holding made his Champions League debut at Basle in December 2016.

And a bonus was also triggered soon after the Tameside-born centre-half moved to Arsenal when Gareth Southgate picked him for the England Under-21s at the Toulon Tournament in France and Euro Championships in Poland.

Holding made 30 appearances for Bolton, scoring once, in a solitary season at the Macron - but had been with the club since the age of seven, rising through the Academy with the likes of Josh Vela and Zach Clough.

After being pulled out of the squad at the last moment on the final day of the 2015/16 campaign at Fulham, Holding did stay with Wanderers for several weeks as Phil Parkinson took charge.

He was on the Whites’ pre-season tour of Scandinavia but did not feature in any of the friendly games before completing his move to Arsenal.

Meanwhile, another Premier League situation which could have a direct impact on Wanderers is West Ham’s pursuit of Everton’s Morgan Schneiderlin.

David Moyes complained earlier this week that he is without 13 first team players, with a major deficit in midfield. And that has hampered Parkinson’s chances of bringing Josh Cullen and Reece Burke back on loan.

It had been originally planned that the youngsters would return after the FA Cup fourth round but the continued absence of the likes of Pedro Obiang, Marko Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini, Andy Carroll, Ayew and Michail Antonio and Winston Reid. has left Moyes putting the breaks on exits until he can find adequate replacements.