Deadline May stays despite late bid, and midfielders sign
BIRMINGHAM City made an 11th hour deadline day bid for Alfie May, but a deal could not be struck between the clubs before Thursday’s 11pm deadline.
May, 29, has been with the Robins since January 2020 and netted 26 times last term, including 23 in League One, and has scored twice so far this season.
Cheltenham are thought to have been looking for around £500,000 for their star player, who has two years left to run on his contract.
Head coach Wade Elliott said he was not worried about the possibility of losing May when that bid arrived at 9.30pm.
“I was getting ready to go to bed,” he said. “I spoke to Micky (Moore) at about 9.30pm saying we had a bid for Alfie.
“I don’t know if it met the valuation or not. As soon as I realised there was an hour and a half of the window left, I knew it wasn’t going to happen with too many moving parts to get anything done in an hour and a half.
“I think Alfie understands that, is realistic enough and has been around the game enough to know if you get a bid at 9.30pm, it’s unlikely it’s going to be pushed through.
“What is does do hopefully is give him a little fillip. It’s nice for him to be recognised by a big club and the incentive is there for him now to maintain his standards, bang in some goals and make sure that interest is still there in January.”
Whatever happened with May, Cheltenham were looking for a forward before the deadline, but that did not materialise with midfielders James Olayinka and Ryan Broom signing instead on permanent deals.
“We publicly came out and said we were looking for a centre forward,” said Elliott. “We spoke to two that we identified, which didn’t transpire for whatever reason. Then we got offered a million forwards, but we didn’t take them because we didn’t think they’d affect the group because we have five very good ones in the building, which Alfie is a part of.
“We are delighted to keep him, obviously. It’s his job and our job to keep him in a good place. The goal the other night was good for him.
“Getting interest from a Championship club will give him a little boost.”
Olayinka has joined the club from Arsenal on a two-year deal, while Broom is back on a one-year deal from Peterborough.
Olayinka, 21, has League Two loan experience at Northampton Town and Southend United and featured in both legs of Northampton’s 2020 play-off semi-final win over Cheltenham. “We first spoke to James in April and he came in,” said Elliott. “Loads of energy, he can sniff a goal, technically good, so he’s someone we have been monitoring for a long time and I am pleased we have finally been able to get it done.
“He fits in with what we are looking for. He is young and wants a platform to develop. He wants somewhere he can push on and develop his career from. He is young, hungry, good legs and energy, so he ticks a lot of boxes for us.”
Broom initially joined the Robins from Bristol Rovers in the summer of 2018 and made 79 starts and nine substitute appearances, scoring 12 goals over the course of the next two seasons.
He was snapped up for a six-figure sum by Peterborough in August 2020, signing a three-year contract with the League One club.
He was loaned to Burton Albion during the second half of the 2020/21 campaign and despite interest from Cheltenham 12 months ago, he spent the whole of last season on loan at Plymouth Argyle, who completed a win double over Cheltenham and narrowly missed out on the play-offs.
“The conversation I had with Ryan was that where he’s really flown and played his best football is where he’s been able to play week-in, week-out,” said Elliott. “For whatever reason, since he left here he’s not quite been able to do that.
“He had a good spell at Plymouth last year. We know he’ll be a popular signing. He is still a young man, but he’s played a lot of games so he has that bit of experience. Again, he is hungry, with energy and he fits in with what we are all about.
At least two players are likely to be loaned out to non-league clubs in the coming weeks.
Cheltenham rejected an approach for midfielder Ellis Chapman from a League Two club, while left wing-back Reece Hutchinson has been made available for loan and 22-year-old midfielder Dylan Barkers could also be let out.
“Players could go out if it’ll benefit them and we’ll look at it on a person by person basis,” said Elliott. “The squad will be big and in terms of exact numbers I think we are on 26 or 27, so there will be one or two it’s difficult to get playing opportunities.
“So they might be better served going out and playing regularly. It doesn’t mean we don’t think they are good players.
“We did it with Bondsy (Elliot Bonds) last year. He went to Kidderminster and played, off the back of an injury, but he benefitted massively from playing two months Saturday-tuesday and when he came back he was ready to step into the team. It might be beneficial for one or two.”