
Budget
Transfers - £750.000
Wages - £3.650
Objectives
Domestic Cup - Reach Round of 32
League - Avoid Relegation

Departures
Mark Halstead
GK/60 Ovr/25/England
£315.000 to Gillingham
Ashley Vincent
LM/59 Ovr/30/England
£135.000 to Barnsley
Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro
ST/59 Ovr/30/France
£110.000 to Crewe Alexandra
To make room for the youth coming through, the club has decided to move these 3 players on. Mark, Ashley and Jean-Louis all played very well for us last season and we wish them all the best with their new clubs.
Dominic Smith
CB/56 Ovr/19/Wales
Loan to Exeter City
Kaiman Anderson
ST/54 Ovr/18/England
Loan to Wycombe
Alex Fletcher
CM/54 Ovr/18/England
Loan to Cambridge United
Callum Burton
GK/55 Ovr/18/England
Loan to Dagenham
Niall Flint
CM/55 Ovr/18/England
Loan to Oxford United
The 5 teenagers were all loaned out to League Two clubs with a view to getting them regular playing time in a league of a similar standard to our own. All of them progressed immensely on their loan spells last season and we hope for the same outcome this coming campaign.

Arrivals

Jamie Reid
ST/56 Ovr/21/Northern Ireland
£50.000 from Exeter City
Jamie came up through Exeter's youth system and earned himself a contract in 2012. Despite being born in England, he has represented Northern Ireland at U21 level earning 2 caps. He is a quick and versatile player with striker being his preferred position although he can also play on either wing. He quite strong for his size, 5'11", so he doesn't get knocked off the ball easily. He has been left go for the nominal fee of £50k a fee which many feel, especially Exeter supporters, is a much too low price.

Chuba Akpom
ST/63 Ovr/19/England
£60.000 from Arsenal
After being with the Gunners since the age of 6, Akpom has joined us on a 5 year deal to get playing time. Arsenal's youth academy has done an amazing job on this youngster who combines pace and strength to become a very effective forward. He's not the finished article yet but for a fee of only £60k we will gladly take him on board. His height of 6'0" means he can fight for the ball in the air and bag some headers. He is equally adept with his feet however, as you'd expect after coming through Arsenal's academy.

Hiram Boateng
CDM/60 Ovr/19/England
£100.000 from Crystal Palace
Hiram progressed through the London club's academy and made it to the first team in 2013. After making a couple of appearances in the FA Cup and making the bench for a league game against Aston Villa that season, he signed a professional contract in April 2014. He has had a short loan stint with Crawley Town so far to date. He is an athletic midfielder with a decent range of passing. Again he is not the finished article but we hope to develop him in an all round midfielder.


Elliot Grabban
RM/62 Ovr/16/England/72-80 Pot
Elliot is an extremely talented player and can play in a variety of different areas on the pitch. In his natural wide right position as he likes to cut in on his stronger left foot, as a creator in the No. 10 role, on the left where he can use his left to swing in top quality crosses and also further forward as a right winger. His right foot is nearly as good as his natural left (4* weak foot) so he is a nightmare to defend against. He can cut in on his left and have a pop at goal while also being able to slip passes through or he can get to the byline and pick a teammate out with a cross. Mellon is definitely going to give young Grabban chances this season, opting not to send him out on loan and put him straight into training with the first team. At 16 he still has a long way to go to reach the pinnacle of the game but Mellon has the faith that he can one day reach it.

Oliver Samuel
CF/59 Ovr/16/England/73-81 Pot
The second player who was promoted from within was Oliver Samuel. The centre forward is also capable of playing deeper in at CAM and his best attributes are his ball control, dribbling and passing. Another great assest he possesses is being equally as good with both feet. This ability gives him an advantage in getting passes and shots off quickly and with the same level of accuracy off both legs. Despite only being 16, he has shown maturity and adjusted well to the first team setup. He will surely be with the club for a very long time. Another of Mellon's building blocks for the future.

Lineup

Subs: Leutwiler (GK, 60), Knight-Percival (CB, 62), Grandison (RB, 62), Lawrence (CM, 65), Griffith (CDM, 61), Akpom (ST, 64), Jolley (ST, 62)
Reserves: Maksimenko (CB, 60), Kennedy (LB, 59), Boateng (CDM, 60), McAllister (CDM, 61), Clark (RM, 61), *Grabban (RM, 62), Harris (LM, 58), Ginnelly (LM, 58), *Samuel (CF, 59), Reid (ST, 56), Mangan (ST, 60)
*Denotes Youth Graduate
The reserves and subs make up the 2nd side for games where the main side isn't fully recovered or players need more games.
Thanks for Reading! Any feedback is appreciated!
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