It has taken little time for new Eastleigh gaffer Liam Knowles to dig into his reportedly profuse transfer budget at Silverlake, finalising the signings of six new pros at the club.
With an estimated transfer budget of £55,000 handed by Stewart Donald, it is apparent that a chunk of that money has gone into wage budget investment as well as signing on fees, with the club paying no transfer fees for the new arrivals.
A question in Knowles’ first press conference was about his aims for the transfer window this summer, to which he was quite cagey about. However, just 21 days into his new job and he has got six players to sign the dotted line.
The first to join Knowles’ list of playing staff was young striker Jake Pickard. The 19-year-old made his way into the professional game by coming through the academy at Scottish outfit Queen of the South. He made his senior debut aged 17 years old and eventually played 31 league games for his former team, scoring no goals due to a positional change which left Pickard playing on the wing a lot of the time.
Another youthful addition to the Eastleigh squad is 19-year-old Devarn Green. The youngster can play up-front as well as out wide on either side thanks to his immense pace in his locker, which earned many plaudits in the Burton and Blackburn youth management. Green was released by Blackburn Rovers at the end of last season, ending his spell there with no professional appearances for the Championship side.
Liam Knowles could potentially be giving away a tactical secret by his choice to sign a pair of wingers in Devarn Green and Calaum Jahraldo-Martin. The natural left-winger is a 16-time senior international for his native Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, scoring 3 goals for his national side. Aged 23, Jahraldo-Martin has slightly more professional experience, playing senior matches for the likes of Boreham Wood, Dulwich Hamlet, Tranmere, Alloa, Hull City and more recently, Leyton Orient.
The signing of Tom Rosenthal is widely claimed to be Eastleigh Director of Football, Richard Hill’s only input in transfer business this summer. Rosenthal played in an English trialists match earlier in preseason and impressed the onlooking Hill, who fed this knowledge to Knowles. The attacking midfielder spent a year at Belgian giants Zulte Waregem in 2014, making four first-team appearances for Essevee before a move back to England to join Queens Park Rangers last season.
The signing of Jerry Yates on loan is much seen to be a cover for Jake Pickard and James Constable until the injured Darius Henderson and Craig McAllister are fit for selection. Reports say that Yates must fight for his spot on his loan spell despite two successful loan spells at Harrogate Town in recent seasons gone by.
Luca De La Torre is another potential indicator for what type of formation Knowles is looking to implement at Eastleigh this season, with the arrival of two new attacking midfielders if it includes Tom Rosenthal. The American 18-year-old has not been able to break into the first-team at Craven Cottage and this is his first loan spell to make a name for himself involved in first-team football. He joins until the end of the season.
The transfer window has not seen any Eastleigh players leave the club as of yet.
In the backroom staff department of the club, Liam Knowles has added a Scout and a Physiotherapist to his team behind the scenes in Ernie Tippett and James Barker respectively. Tippett served Southampton as a Scout previously and Barker has held roles at Millwall, Gillingham and Crawley before Knowles signed him up.
