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Town's move for Grimsby winger hits late roadblock
Swindon Town's move for Grimsby Town winger Charles Vernam looks to be in jeopardy after a breakdown in negotiations.
As reported by The Adver this week, Swindon were involved in negotiations to take Vernam from their League Two rivals as Ian Holloway looked to add a new option to his attacking arsenal.
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However, the 28-year-old was set to travel to Swindon yesterday to complete his medical and iron out all of the details, but this ended up bringing about complications, and any further actions were abruptly cancelled.
No agreement ended up being reached, as first reported by The Moonraker, as the winger decided against moving his family down from their base in Lincolnshire, having learned about the move after a deal between the two clubs had already been struck.
Vernam was born in Lincoln and has played for both Grimsby and Lincoln City, and has pursuits beyond football in his local area, which he has decided not to leave behind to reunite with Holloway.
The pair worked together whilst the 62-year-old was in charge of The Mariners, arguably the best spell of Vernam's career as he scored seven goals in 27 appearances in the 2019/20 season, scoring the EFL Goal of the Season and earning a move to Burton Albion.
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The winger is likely to remain available this summer as Dave Artell looks to streamline his current group, so if issues can be fixed, then it is not impossible that Swindon revisit it at a later date.
Holloway had been hoping that Vernam could fill the void in his attacking options of a natural winger, who is capable of taking players on and getting the ball into the box.
Town's boss is a big fan of the 28-year-old from his time at Grimsby, saying of him when he was in charge at Blundell Park: 'Charles Vernam is looking beautiful. One of his turns there, the kid went and bought a haddock and chips – or a pie, whatever he eats – he sold him such a dummy it was unbelievable!
'It was like 'Hang on, where's he gone?' And it's beautiful."
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Swindon are still searching for at least two more attacking reinforcements, in addition to Aaron Drinan, whose new contract was expected to be signed this week, as Holloway hopes to fill up his attacking options.
Having strength in depth in attack was a big part of Swindon's success last season, with the "starters and finishers" policies allowing them to pull multiple improbably late comebacks over the likes of AFC Wimbledon and Bradford City.
Vernam, it was hoped, would have been part of that, but Swindon will have to return to their list of options to find a new player capable of filling that hole, on top of a back-up striker, which is coveted by Holloway.
In attacking areas of Town's 24-man squad, Town presently have Paul Glatzel, Danny Butterworth, Botan Ameen, and Harry Smith signed up for next season, with Dani Gonzalez and George Alston expected to gain more experience away from the Nigel Eady County Ground next season.
