Rumour: Vale set to sign striker?
Following reports of a potential injury to talisman Tom Pope, the Sentinel claims that Vale are lining up a striker.
If Pope is injured then it would undoubtedly leave a sizeable gap upfront.
The club say that Achille Campion is not matchfit (and they will not be keen to rush a player who has had injury problems) while new loan signing Harry Panayiotou is very much an unknown quantity. That leaves Ben Williamson and Jordan Slew as the club’s only senior strikers.
The Sentinel says that the target has first-team experience and doesn’t fall into the “development” category of other players currently being scouted by the Valiants.
If a new player does arrive, it is likely to be a loan deal, at least initially, as the transfer window is currently closed. That would also give Vale a headache in terms of how to utilise their growing contingent of loanees.
Vale currently boast Freddie Veseli, Jordan Slew, Stephane Zubar, Remie Streete, Reiss Greenidge, Achille Campion and Harry Panayiotou on loan. However, only four can be involved in the matchday squad.
If another loanee arrives making it eight, then half of Vale’s loan signings would miss out on first-team action. As Vale are purported to have signed several players with a view to assessing them and potentially signing them, it will make that job more difficult if the players concerned are not getting regular first-team football.