Quite possibly the longest transfer saga in the history of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club has finally come to an end, with midfielder Aaron Morley making his long-awaited return to Adams Park following more than a year away.

It was shortly after Wycombe’s New Years’ Day victory over Exeter City that it was announced the midfielder would be returning to his parent club, with Bolton Wanderers activating the recall clause in their loan deal with Wycombe, the midfielder going out with a bang after he scored the winning penalty in the aforementioned 2-1 win.

Shortly after Morley left, it looked like Wanderers were keen on bringing him back, this time on a permanent deal, before the end of last years’ January window. However, as we all know, that same window, Bloomfield departed Wycombe for the Luton job, and wanted the midfielder at the then-Championship club, and the return didn’t happen, with bids rejected and rumours circulating, Morley stayed at Bolton and made some appearances, and in his first game back, he scored another last-minute winner against Exeter.

With Wanderers not looking likely to bring the 25-year-old back to Buckinghamshire, they opted to sign Danish midfielder, Magnus Westergaard instead. However, as we all know by now, his time at Adams Park was plagued by injury, along with the fact that he never really got a look into the squad, and he recently left earlier this month.

After the disappointment that ended the 2024/25 League One campaign, with Wanderers missing out on promotion after losing in the play-off semi-finals, the interest for Morley was reignited during the summer transfer window, with both Wycombe at Bloomfield’s relegated Luton side reportedly having bids rejected by Bolton later on in the window, and that seemed to be that for the time being.

Wycombe’s start to the current League One campaign could definitely have been better, with Dodds dismissed and Duff in, their form has definitely turned around since, and with his first transfer window in charge of Wanderers, once again, Morley interest had come to light. However, that isn’t the only managerial change that could have affected his move, with Bloomfield also dismissed after Luton’s start to the season, he was announced at Oxford’s new head coach earlier this month, Dodds joining him at the yellows.

It was reported that Oxford, Luton and Wycombe were interested in the player. But then there was radio silence, until yesterday, when it was reported that Wanderers and Bolton had agreed a deal for the midfielder, confirmed later on when Wycombe finally announced his permanent signing and long-awaited return to Wycombe Wanderers, strengthening their midfield ranks, for an undisclosed fee which is said to be around £750k, which could rise to £900k in the future.

In his first interview back in the light-dark blue quarters, Morley spoke about his abrupt exit, and the feeling that he “had unfinished business,” and is “back to finish it.” It’s an extremely positive signing, a player who knows the club well and clearly likes it here eager to get going once more.

During his previous stint at the club, Morley held one of two defensive-midfielder positions in (usually) a 4-2-3-1, alongside either Scowen, Xavier Simons or Luke Leahy, so could slot in well next to Caolan Boyd-Munce or Luke Leahy, depending on who Duff would omit from the squad for Wycombe’s new number five, and despite playing a more defensive role, as we’ve seen before, he is more than happy to get the ball up the pitch and quickly turn defence into attack.

Since the signing of Morley, this transfer window has turned from quiet to positive in the eyes of many, and with Nathan Lowe now added to Duff’s attacking arsenal, Wanderers look set to be a real threat for a top six place in the second half of the season.