Bristol Rovers transfer state of play heading into final days of the window

Bristol Rovers have had one of their best transfer windows to date, but what’s left for Joey Barton and his recruitment team?

The Gas have signed 11 players to date and have landed a majority of the players they’ve wanted to sign. A few have decided to go elsewhere with Alfie May, Connor Ripley and Will Boyle all going to clubs that worked out better for them geographically.

Nevertheless, this recruitment drive is backing up what Wael al-Qadi said in June. He said in an Instagram post that said: Next season beware .....UTFG.” It’s early days yet but other than Saturday’s blip against early pace settings Cambridge United, it’s so far been a positive summer on the pitch.

In the aftermath of Luke McCormick’s winner at Charlton, Joey Barton said that he had a ‘little bit to do’ in terms of getting the ‘final pieces of the jigsaw’ together.

Two days later, Jack Hunt signed on a free transfer, having left Sheffield Wednesday after helping the Owls to win promotion in May. It was just over 12 hours after Hunt’s arrival, that we saw the return of Lamare Bogarde on a season-long loan from Aston Villa.

Barton is keen to avoid deadline day but Bogarde’s arrival from Villa in January, along with the signings of Josh Coburn, Sylvester Jasper and Bobby Thomas last summer shows he’s partial to a few late signings.

You wouldn’t expect too much business though from Rovers in terms of incomings. A ‘few lads will want to go out and play’ admitted Barton, and it should be a case of players going out first before any more arrivals come in now.

James Belshaw’s the most publicised potential departure. It was claimed by Barton that he has twice asked for a move away from the Memorial Stadium, and that has seen Barton move him out of first-team plans.

Belshaw’s under contract until 2024, and you’d imagine a six-month loan move might be best for him. It looks like Belshaw and his agent could be tasked with finding his next destination and you’d hope that he’d at least get a League Two move.

It’s merely a coincidence but Ben Foster’s retirement means Wrexham could be on the lookout for a new goalkeeper and given Belshaw’s a promotion winner, they’d do well to find a goalkeeper more suitable than Belly.

Another first-team player that we could see leave is Ryan Loft. He didn’t feature much of pre-season and only now has got an opportunity. He got 30 minutes against Cambridge United on Saturday but surely he’ll want to be a starting player elsewhere. It’s not quite worked out 25-year-old who barring a brief purple patch last season hasn’t been able to have the desired impact he’d have wanted.

Before the season kicked off, Andy Mangan admitted that they’d be looking to send players out. Jed Ward is at Wealdstone and Harvey Greenslade last week joined Truro City and Ryan Jones and Jerry Lawrence are in that category too.

Neither have had their departures confirmed yet but given both had spells out on loan last season you’d expect Rovers to push for a move to a National League club for Jones, and a National League South side for Lawrence.

We’re not expecting any big Aaron Collins sale this window either, as any club who would have wanted him that held a strong transfer interest would have made a move by now. The 26-year-old hasn’t hit the target yet but did set up Scott Sinclair last week in his first goal contribution of the campaign.

It brings us on then to potential incomings, and a name that won’t go away is Jonson Clarke-Harris. Club CEO Tom Gorringe refused to be drawn on if he was a transfer target and why would he reveal if he was? It’d be giving the game away.

Rovers though do need Clarke-Harris or someone in the mould of him however. The 29-year-old would be the perfect signing if Rovers want to get out of the league this season. He was the league’s top scorer last year and is proven at this level.

A common theme in the four league matches so far has been the inability to finish off chances. John Marquis has had a fair few opportunities but so far has been unable to find the back of the net. Marquis is a good player to keep around but so far a goal has evaded him.

An out-and-out number nine with a proven record at this level or someone who has the potential to score bucket loads at this level is what is needed, but what club isn’t looking for that 15-20 goal striker?

One potential option is Josh Coburn, who was with Rovers last season. Michael Carrick has admitted that Middlesbrough plan to loan him out should they complete the business they want to this summer. The 20-year-old got 10 goals in 35 matches last year but went through a long spell without a goal. Another year at the Mem could be beneficial but there might be other options to consider.

With ten days remaining of the window, it’s hard to predict exactly what Rovers will do. Joey Barton likes using the loan market to sign young players and he’s likely to sign perhaps one more player under the age of 21, so he has a full loan quota of five players.