As a football nerd, I occasionally go back over the transfer from the last couple of weeks to see if I’ve missed much.
It turns out that even though I’m near a computer for eight hours a day and always watch news feeds, I have missed some.
In fact, five jumped out at me, and if I missed them, you may have missed them as well. That’s why I’ve put together a list of the five summer transfers you might have missed.
They’re not all ex-Imps, but some are what I’d call pretty big deals within the EFL.
Lee Angol
Lee Angol feels like a blast from the past, so you might be surprised to hear he’s only 29. He’s now on his 14th different club (completing his 17th move) as he swapped Sutton United for Morecambe. I was surprised he was at Sutton – he wasn’t hugely impressive for them, and he even spent the second part of the season on loan at Woking in the National League, playing once.
He’s a king of those short loans, playing once for Maidenhead and twice for us during temporary spells.
John Akinde
Big John is on the move after being released by Danny and Nicky at Colchester. Football is odd, isn’t it – I remember talking to Danny about how hard they’d chased John in the summer of 2018, and six years later, they’re delivering bad news to him.
Since leaving City, he scored nine in 81 for Gillingham (two pens) and 12 in 86 for Colchester (one penalty). For the first time in nine years, the big striker is dropping out of the Football League, signing for Braintree. At 35, he is entering the twilight of what has been a solid career, with four promotions and 182 goals.
Zack Elbouzedi
It’s funny, the things you remember. I remember getting a phone call telling me we were signing Zack while standing on the platform of Newark railway station, waiting for a train to take me to the FSA Awards in 2019. The club had high hopes for him then, but it didn’t pan out here. He appeared 11 times, scoring twice, but was outstanding in the EFL Trophy, twice winning player of the round.
He’s had an interesting run since then – he joined Swedish top-flight side AIK in 2021 and ended up playing in Europe. He was then loaned to Swindon but didn’t make a huge impression in his 17 matches. This summer, he headed back to Ireland, joining Stephen Kenny’s St Patrick’s Athletic, where he’s playing in Europe once again. Keep an eye out this week as they look to win both matches of a two-legged tie in European competition for the first time since 2008/09.
Ryan Bowman
A new challenge! Let’s go @CTFCofficial 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/EQipub3gUo
— Ryan Bowman (@ryan_bowman12) July 27, 2024
We’re off the Imps now, and on to a transfer I can get behind. Ryan Bowman, who I’m sure is a lovely bloke, was an arsehole every time he faced the Imps. He played for Shrewsbury most recently. I complained about an elbow he left on Roughan when we turned them over 3-0.
He’s just been one of those players I’ve always thought would beat up defenders but who never worried me. He’s on the move – John Marquis has replaced him at the New Meadow, so Bowman has dropped into League Two with Cheltenham to replace Rob Street. There’s also a St Patrick’s link here – not only has Street left Cheltenham, but club-record signing Aidan Keena has also gone, just 18 months after joining for a reported £100,000, he has gone back to Ireland for free, to link up with Elbouzedi, whom he played Ireland U21 football with.
Mark Helm
This is a huge surprise. I really liked Helm when he played against us. I thought he was good on the ball, and with nine goals and two assists in his 18 months with Burton, I felt he’d done okay. He’s only 22 and was a big coup for them when he arrived from Burnley, having come through the Man Utd youth ranks. Whilst he wouldn’t really fit our side, I’d have loved him at City, and I even named him as one to watch in FourFourTwo last season.
He’s moved to Fleetwood Town, doubtless ambitious given their relegation last season. Burton have had a bit of a clear-out, with many of their players from last season cast aside, and Helm is one of those. It’s surprising to see him go, but one would imagine Fleetwood have spent a pretty packet on him. That said, they have brought a fair bit in, selling Stockley, Quitirna, Omochere, Hayes and Brown.
Not that it bothers us, of course.
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