Lincoln City winger Oscar Thorn has joined League Two side Colchester United on a season-long loan.
Thorn, who joined the Imps from the U’s last August, will spend the campaign back in Essex as he continues his development. The agreement includes an option for City to recall the midfielder during the January transfer window.
The 22-year-old has had a decent pre-season, netting the only goal in 180 minutes of football last Saturday. He’s seemingly back to his full fitness after an injury-hit campaign with the Imps, which included ankle surgery in November.
“Oscar needs football, which we cannot guarantee him at the moment, and this move allows him to play for a club and manager that he knows, and they know him, so that he can get regular game,”‘ said sporting director Jez George said:
“Last season was frustrating for Oscar in requiring surgery on his ankle, which kept him out for three months, and then returning to full fitness when the team was flying and competition for places was intense.
“Oscar can still have a long-term future at Lincoln City but to give that the best chance he needs an opportunity to play, so this loan makes total sense. We have a recall in January so we can assess his progress and then decide on what is best for Oscar in the second half of the season.”
Thorn joined City from Danny Cowley’s outfit, signing a four-year contract after making 35 appearances for the Essex club. The Southend-born winger had previously spent time in the academies at Arsenal and Norwich City, while also gaining senior experience during loan spells with Bath City and Chelmsford City.
He made his Imps debut as a substitute against Mansfield Town shortly after arriving at Sincil Bank and went on to make six appearances in all competitions during City’s League One title-winning 2025/26 campaign.
The plan is not for Oscar to spend a whole season in League Two – if he impresses, we’d like a League One loan for him, but that comes at a cost: not playing for us this weekend.
“Oscar came back from the summer really fit and really strong,” added Jez. “He’s performed well in training and games but the EFL rule of only permitting a player to register and play for two clubs in a season means that if he was in the squad on Saturday, and came on the pitch, he would then not be able to go to another club on loan in January.
“We want the flexibility to accelerate Oscar’s development by potentially securing him a League One loan in January, which we wouldn’t be able to do if he plays any minutes at Derby, so that wouldn’t be wise and therefore we have made the decision for Oscar to join Colchester ahead of the weekend.”
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