Exclusive: Notts County set to seal £100,000 Southend United transfer raid | OneFootball

Notts County have agreed a £100,000 deal for versatile Southend United midfielder Leon Chambers-Parillon, Football League World understands

Notts County are still playing for their 2026/27 divisional status ahead of next Monday's League Two play-off final showdown against Salford City, though the Magpies are making moves behind the scenes regardless of the outcome at Wembley - and Football League World can exclusively reveal an impending transfer on the way to Meadow Lane.

The Nottinghamshire outfit have not come this close to sealing a return to League One since suffering relegation back into the fourth-tier all the way back in 2015, even spending four years competing at National League level for good measure.

Notts County have, however, been steadily building for a number of years now under a variety of managers, and it's Martin Paterson who could be the man to guide the Magpies to promotion after finishing the regular campaign in fifth position and seeing off local rivals Chesterfield over two legs in the play-off semi-finals.

Salford may just have something to say about that, of course, with the Ammies having enjoyed a rich streak of form at the back-end of the season before advancing past Grimsby Town to make the club's first-ever fourth-tier play-off final.

Either way, though, the Magpies' transfer policy under the Reetz brothers,Christoffer and Alexander, has seen the club adopt a new strategy towards recruitment - they plan ahead for the future amid contingencies at play, and Football League World has learned that a deal for a new six-figure signing has already been agreed and is set to be sealed regardless of what division Paterson's side are playing in next time out.

Notts County set to seal £100,000 Southend United transfer deal

Football League World can exclusively reveal that the League Two play-off finalists have struck a deal with Southend United, who will be spending a sixth successive campaign in the National League after losing out to Scunthorpe United at the quarter-finals stage.

And, sources have revealed to FLW that the player in the question is Leon Chambers-Parillon, with the 24-year-old poised to be on his way out of Essex having signed for the club from Slough Town back in January 2025.

FLW understands that Chambers-Parillon, who scored twice in the 2025/26 National League term and will leave Roots Hall with five goals and six assists from 56 appearances across all competitions, is set to join Notts ahead of this summer's transfer window in a deal believed to be in the region of £100,000.

The attacking midfielder came through the ranks with Oxford United and made eight appearances throughout his time at the Kassam Stadium, much of which was spent out on loan in non-league, before leaving for Slough in 2022.

Capable of playing in a variety of midfield roles and even at wing-back, the versatile operator's influence at Southend has grown over the course of the season and has earned an impending switch to the East Midlands, which will be completed irrespective of how Notts fare at Wembley in a week's time.

Southend United's Leon Chambers-Parillon can address key position for Notts County

Chambers-Parillon, who also represented both Luton Town and Aston Villa at academy level, will bring no shortage of positional flexibility into Paterson's ranks, and that could be a crucial asset in whatever division awaits Notts County in 2026/27.

His ability to operate in attacking midfield is particularly handy, though, as Paterson could just find himself somewhat sort of options in that area of the pitch behind star striker Alassana Jatta following the play-off final.

Youngsters Tyrese Hall, Tom Iorpenda and Jayden Luker have all impressed in that role in Paterson's 3-5-2-1 formation, with the latter scoring the goal to send Notts to Wembley after missing large parts of the season through injury.

Iorpenda's displays have been especially notable, too, although the 21-year-old is set to return to parent club Huddersfield Town and has the ability to make an instant impact on first-team proceedings at the Accu Stadium.

Hall and Luker are also both on loan, and while Notts' chances of landing fresh agreements there could be more favourable, they face the threat of losing three players in the same position and it's no surprise that they're looking ahead to life without the talented temporary trio.