George Bennett sat down with Jonny Drury to review Walsall's summer transfer window.
It has been a busy window for the Saddlers with a number of incomings and outgoings.
George looks at the incoming players and whether the Saddlers are stronger than last season.
It has been a busy window for the Saddlers with a number of incomings and outgoings.
George looks at the incoming players and whether the Saddlers are stronger than last season.
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00:00It's all right, mate?
00:05Yeah, yeah, all good. All good.
00:07Good stuff. Good stuff.
00:10Do you want to whack both headphones in, mate?
00:12Because you've gone a little bit quiet, to be honest.
00:14Yeah.
00:15If it'll stretch. Just speak now.
00:17Yeah, that's all good.
00:19Yeah, that's good.
00:20These headphones are a nightmare.
00:22No, that's all right, mate. It's exactly the same.
00:24Yeah.
00:25Yeah, yeah, all good, mate. Right, let's go.
00:27Three, two, one.
00:28Yep.
00:29Hello, Sadler's fans. Welcome to ExpressAndStyle.com.
00:32My name is Jonny Drew.
00:34I'm here with George Bennett to round up, really,
00:37the Walsall transfer business for the summer transfer window.
00:42It's been a busy window, as they always are for League Two
00:45and League One clubs with a high turnover of players.
00:48Started with quite a few going out the door,
00:50some they didn't quite expect to leave.
00:53But there's been some top signings,
00:55none more so than one of the latest ones to come through
00:58the door prior to the window.
00:59One in on deadline day.
01:00George, just give us a brief summing up of how you think
01:04the window's gone and how happy Matt Sadler will be
01:07with the additions that he's made.
01:09Yeah, I think the start to the season's made fans realise
01:14that the squad that Matt Sadler's put together
01:17is quite promising.
01:18I mean, just the competition for places now is quite exciting.
01:22The biggest thing was getting those centre forwards
01:25through the door.
01:26The signings of Nathan Lowe and Reyes Cleary
01:30on season-long loans look to be great business.
01:34We've not seen anything of Cleary yet,
01:36but everyone would have seen Lowe's home debut the other day
01:40with the two goals and a really impressive performance.
01:44So, you know, just from early evidence there,
01:46Walsall could have found themselves another gem
01:48on the loan market.
01:50They will say don't fall in love with a loan player,
01:52but yeah, someone who looks really exciting there.
01:55And, you know, you look at the attacking options
01:57with Adoma who's brought valuable experience, quality.
02:02Those sort of moves can sometimes be ones
02:05where a player's coming towards the end of their career.
02:08Is it going to work?
02:09There's been plenty of cases where it hasn't.
02:12It doesn't feel like that with Albert Adoma.
02:14He's really embraced his first few weeks in a Walsall shirt
02:19and the fans love him already.
02:21So another really smart signing there who also provides versatility
02:25because he can play right wing back,
02:27but he's fried in the makeshift striker role,
02:31which has just kind of increased those options.
02:34And we kind of forget that Josh Gordon was a summer signing
02:37because he was brought in permanently after his loan
02:40to come back to the club on a permanent basis.
02:42So those attacking options look really strong.
02:47And yeah, it feels like that's kind of replicated
02:50across the pitch and we'll get on to it in a minute.
02:54But today's signing feels like a marquee signing,
02:58maybe a statement signing,
02:59if you kind of consider George Hall's potential.
03:03Yeah, just moving on to George Hall and that deadline day business,
03:06which we're pretty sure is the only incoming
03:09that's going to be happening on the final day of the window.
03:12What do you make of that, George?
03:14And what is he going to bring to Walsall?
03:18Yeah, well, I sort of remember him breaking onto the scene
03:22around two years ago now,
03:24and he was being linked with high profile clubs.
03:29I mentioned it in my video that I put out on socials earlier
03:32with Southampton, Newcastle, Leeds, Brighton.
03:37You know, these names aren't linked with players for no reason.
03:40And this was around the time
03:42just before he made his breakthrough into the first team.
03:44But I think the interest with Leeds
03:46stuck right up until his breakthrough season in the championship.
03:50So clearly a player with bags of potential,
03:53two goals and six caps for England's under-19s as well,
03:5740 championship appearances.
03:59So to sign a player in that pedigree is exciting.
04:03And I know he had his injury issues last season.
04:06So Birmingham clearly see it as
04:09is Walsall going to provide him with a platform
04:12to kind of get his career back on track.
04:15It sounds wrong to say that when he's just 20,
04:17but get his career back on track
04:19and fulfill the potential that they clearly see in him.
04:22But an exciting signing,
04:24someone that will add quality and youthful energy to Walsall,
04:29a winger by trade, but he's played centrally.
04:33So you're probably expecting to play in one of those two eight slots
04:37and just provide that bit of creativity,
04:40that bit of quality,
04:42which Walsall still have an abundance in midfield,
04:44but it's another fantastic option to have
04:47and a really good signing it feels.
04:49And just finally,
04:51if you look at the squad now compared to what it was
04:53on the last day of the season,
04:55do you think they're pound for pound stronger
04:58than they were at the end of last season?
05:00I do.
05:01I feel losing Hutchinson was a major blow.
05:04I mean, just over a third of Walsall's goals
05:09he contributed to last season.
05:11That's a big void to fill.
05:15But with the attacking additions,
05:17like I mentioned with Nathan Lowe, Reyes, Cleary,
05:21there's Danny Johnson to come back,
05:24Albert Adoma, Josh Gordon, Jamil Matt,
05:29you know, hopefully Lowe can be the talisman
05:33if Tuesday night's anything to go by.
05:36But it feels like there's goals across that attack,
05:39at least from kind of a collaborative point of view.
05:43And then can Charlie Lakin come to the fore?
05:46I mean, he's settled in now
05:48and I feel like he's going to be one
05:50that will probably grow.
05:52Impressed off the bench the other night
05:54and he wasn't the only one to do that.
05:56And yeah, it just feels like the competition for places.
05:59This is very much a squad and a team effort
06:04rather than kind of, you know,
06:06relying on that individual quality.
06:08And I feel like there's strength across the pitch now.
06:11One of the biggest things was improving defensively.
06:15I mean, the goals they shipped last season,
06:1873 goals, so that was clearly something
06:21that needed to be addressed.
06:23David Akagbe has come in permanently,
06:25a really good sign in that.
06:27They look to have found a very promising
06:29young goalkeeper in Tommy Simpkin.
06:31Osher McEntee's return from injury is a major boost.
06:36Evan Weir looks another one
06:38who could potentially develop into a very good player.
06:40Impressed at left-centre back the other night.
06:42And of course, the wing-back's Conor Barrett.
06:45Could he deal with that step up to the EFL?
06:47Still early doors, but promising early signs from him.
06:50So yeah, it feels like all round,
06:53despite losing two key players
06:55in Jackson Smith and Hutchinson,
06:57Walsall's transfer business,
06:59plus the fact that they retained a strong core
07:01in a squad from last season,
07:03will lead them in good stead
07:04to really make a push this season.