Opinion: Exeter City rumoured transfer interest in experienced frontman makes complete sense

Exeter City finished in the middle of League One last season and a huge issue for them was the lack of a goalscorer. 

One attacking player from a recently relegated League One team could be the ideal talisman to help them with their issues in attack.

Between them, the four strikers at Exeter City only managed to score 14 goals last season and realistically it is not good enough if Exeter have hopes of pushing further up the League One table next season. 

Exeter City fans will be hoping that their club can push for promotion next season. The Grecians are given a 13% chance of promotion if we use an odds converter, while their chances of winning the league are just 2%.

No doubt their odds would reduce if they had an experienced forward who could pick up more goals and assists in the division. Current Fleetwood Town striker Jayden Stockley could be the player to boost Exeter City’s chances of a top half finish and possibly promotion.

Fleetwood Town did get relegated from League One as they finished 22nd on 43 points, but Stockley can be happy with the season he had. The 30 year-old played 37 times in League One. 22 of these appearances were in the starting XI. In these games, Stockley managed 9 goals and 5 assists. He had the most goals in the Fleetwood Town team and also the most assists. The forward also managed a goal every 245 minutes. He also had 2 more goals than Exeter’s stop goalscorer Reece Cole.

The forward is also someone who Exeter City fans know well and fondly, as the forward played 98 games for the club, scoring 49 goals and picking up 10 assists. He moved from Exeter City to Championship club Preston North End in January 2019, but the transfer didn’t really work out as Stockley only managed 8 goals in 71 appearances. The Championship may have been too high a level for him but he seems perfectly suited to League One football.

Stockley may not have all the answers to Exeter City’s goal scoring problems; however, the move would make perfect sense. Exeter could probably broker a somewhat cheaper deal with the forward only having one year left on his contract and Fleetwood being relegated. He would add good experience and better quality in attack.

League One will be a very tough division next season, with teams like Bolton, Birmingham, Huddersfield, Rotherman and Peterborough United all wanting to battle at the top of the division. Meanwhile clubs like Charlton, Reading and Wrexham will also have top half hopes. With this in mind, the attack needs strengthening at Exeter City and Stockley would definitely strengthen their attack. 

It should be a very exciting season but Exeter City need to make sure that they do not fall behind their competition.