Lowe will bide his time before signing a centre back
RYAN Lowe has revealed that Plymouth Argyle have been ‘inundated with calls’ as he looks to add a new central defender to his squad.
Lowe wants to find a replacement for Niall Canavan after his move to Bradford City for an undisclosed fee on an 18-month contract.
The Pilgrims’ boss made his first signing of the January transfer window today when Liverpool left-back Adam Lewis, 21, joined on loan.
Now a central defender is a priority for Lowe, who confirmed that Fulham’s Jerome Opoku would be staying with the Pilgrims for the rest of the season.
When Lowe was asked whether there could be any more new arrivals before the League One game against Crewe Alexandra at Home Park on Saturday, he replied: “Possibly”.
Lowe then went on: “In terms of bringing other people in, I’m on record to say that we are now looking for a centre-back because we have let Niall move on.
“We have got to make sure it’s the right one, the right fit, so we are open to a lot of things.
“But it can’t just be for the sake of getting in anyone. We haven’t got loads of money to spend, it will be ins and outs.
“As you have seen, we have brought Adam in. We have had a decent enough run in the FA Cup, which allows us to do that.
“And then we have freed up Naz’s wages, along with a bit of a fee, so we can use that but I can’t go out and sign 10 players, not that I need to.
“It’s a case of one out one in, and that’s what we will continue to do.
“Where we are at now is we are potentially looking at a centre-back and if anything pops up we will have a chat about it.
“If it warrants a player coming that can help us we will look at it.”
Lowe added: “We are inundated with calls, we have spoken to a few people and we are certainly on with adding another defender.”
Canavan was one of the players already at Argyle when Lowe was appointed as manager in the summer of 2019. The defender made a total of 84 starts and eight substitute appearances for the Pilgrims in his two-and-a-half years at Home Park.
Lowe said: “Naz has been in and out the team this season, and has done well in areas and not so well in other areas.
“He came and spoke to me and he wished to move on. He has loved his time here and he has loved working with us, but he had an 18-month offer off Bradford City.
“We couldn’t stand in the lad’s way. We were not in a position to offer him a contract for next season.
“We got an undisclosed fee for him, which was a bonus for the football club and for us to go and replace him.
“We wish him all the best. Players come and players go, we felt it was the right time for Naz to move on.”
Opoku replaced Canavan in the starting line-up for Argyle’s 3-2 win at Huddersfield last Saturday and the on-loan Fulham defender look set to stay at Home Park.
Lowe said: “He will be with us all season, Jerome. He was left out of the squad a little bit of late but that’s just because of the numbers and the defenders we had on the bench. He will be with us for the long term because he deserves it. He has been fantastic.”