Young Free Agents

A

Ash88

Well-known member
I'm not suggesting we sign all these, it's just a bit of fun / Sunday boredom.
I think at least 3 of these 11 players will end up in the championship within the next two years.

Henry Lawrence - Right back - 21 - Released by Chelsea.
Played over 50 games in league one, for Wimbledon in 21/22 and then MK Dons last season.
On the bench for Chelsea in the champions league vs Bayern Munich.
Former England U20 who's played in the same England team as Morgan Rogers.

Armstrong Oko-Flex - 21 - Left wing - Released by West Ham
Played 13 games in the championship last season on loan to Swansea.
Made his professional debut for Celtic aged 18 (played two games in the SPL).
Has also appeared for West Ham in the Europa League (for 9 minutes).

Luke Matheson - Right back - 20 - Released by Wolves.
Wolves signed him from Rochdale for 900k when he was only 17 - after impressing in league two.
Loaned out to Scunthorpe in January where he made 13 appearances in league one.
Also for England in the same team as Morgan Rogers (and Nathan Wood when he was at Boro) at U18 level.

Steven Sessegnon - Left back - 23 - Released by Fulham.
Probably the most experienced on the list, with 30+ championship and 40+ league one appearances.
Played for Fulham, Charlton, Bristol and Plymouth, he's also been on the bench for Fulham a number of times in the premier league (but never subbed on).
Came through with a very strong England youth team and won the U17 world cup. His twin brother Ryan is currently at Spurs and valued at £15m+.

Tashan Oakley-Boothe - Centre mid - 23 - Released by Stoke.
Former Spurs U21 he made his professional debut in the cup at 16 years old. He's also been on the bench in the premier league and champions league.
Signed for Stoke in 2020 and made 18 championship appearances before a back injury. He played 25 times for Lincoln last season in league one.

Dejan Tetek - CDM - 20 - Released by Reading.
Played 17 times in the championship before suffering a hamstring injury.
Questions about his fitness, but he was on trail at Wycombe earlier in the pre-season.

Bobby Duncan - Striker - 22 - Released by Linense (Spain Division 3)
Prolific scorer at all youth levels. Man City bought him from Wigan when he was 12/13 years old.
He moved to Liverpool U21s and scored 23 (and assisted 8) in 26 games.
Signed for Florentina for 300k at 18 and played 12 professional games, winning the Italian league cup.
Had a bit of a fall out with his agent and got some bad publicity. Ended up falling down the league ladder.

J'Neil Bennett - Left wing - 21 - Released by Brentford B
Former Spurs U21 where he played nearly 100 games at youth level - Played 11 games in league one for Crewe before signing for Brentford.
Possibly a former teammate of Alex Gilbert at Brentford B.

Others
Rowan McDonald - Centre back - 21 - Released by Man City - Played a lot of games at youth level at both CB and CDM.
Zach Awe - Centre back - 19 - Released by Arsenal - Played a lot of games at youth level.
Sam Robinson - 21 - RB/RW/LW - Released by Port Vale - Played 22 games in league one, was previously at Man City U21.
 
Apparently Charlton want to sign Sessengon permanently. No-one else has been linked with him. Unless he wants to stay down south, which is a possibility, he'd be a good solution to our left back problems. Although we may want someone a bit more proven at this level.

Not sure the rest are really worth it. We could do with a right back, but it's a short term problem and McNair (if he isn't leaving) should be able to plug that gap for the short term.
 
Expat Smoggie said:
You might have thought we would have brought one or two of these in on trial if they were any good?
Click to expand...
Often not as simple as this when signing U23s on professional contracts - could have had contract offers on the table, players are often reluctant to play on trial if they think they can get an offer somewhere else, etc
 
Bobby Duncan.
Sounds like a Carrick player?
Played abroad.
Must have shown promise when signed by City.
Good return at U21 level for Liverpool.
:unsure:
 
r00fie1 said:
Bobby Duncan.
Sounds like a Carrick player?
Played abroad.
Must have shown promise when signed by City.
Good return at U21 level for Liverpool.
:unsure:
Click to expand...
By all accounts his agent is a bit of an issue, went from Liverpool to Fiorentina to Derby without ever really pulling up any trees. Got by on the trajectory of being a relative of Gerrard.
 
Expat Smoggie said:
You might have thought we would have brought one or two of these in on trial if they were any good?
Click to expand...
I don't think it's a case of us thinking they aren't any good. I think it's more whether we think they're what we need right now. There's no point in us signing 21-23 year olds for positions we don't need filling. We've only really needed a left back and a striker. And we've been aiming to get Giles as our left back up until last week. I wouldn't be surprised if we did take a look at Sessengon now that we don't have Giles - he has played in the Championship, did well on loan in League One last season. Certainly could be a good option and might allow us to spend more money on a striker.

I don't see it with the rest though. Duncan is the only one I think we'd consider, simply because we need a striker. But he strikes me as being another Aaron Connelly. Possibly has the potential on the field, but his off field issues keep letting him down. We need a good mix of attitude and ability to keep this squad going in the right direction. And I get the feeling that Carrick is looking for a certain personality type as well as talent.
 
Bobby Duncan couldn’t even get into the Derby team when they were thread bare. His attitude was awful. Felt he was a lot bigger and better than he was but even struggled to put in a performance of note with the reserves or u21’s. Certainly not what we need…..even as a desperate gamble.
 
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