Walsall move ahead of Bristol Rovers in Stevenage transfer race | OneFootball

The Saddlers are now in pole position to beat Bristol Rovers to the signature of the Stevenage striker.

Walsall have moved into pole position to land the signature of Stevenage striker Aaron Pressley ahead of Bristol Rovers.

Journalist Alan Nixon revealed via his Patreon account last weekend that Pressley was in a four-club transfer tug of war between Cambridge United, Walsall, Bristol Rovers and Barrow respectively.

The 23-year-old centre-forward has been with Stevenage since the summer of 2023, when he signed from Premier League side Brentford.

Walsall leapfrog Bristol Rovers, Cambridge and Barrow in Aaron Pressley transfer race

Nixon's original report from last weekend outlined that Stevenage would be happy to sell Pressley to the highest bidder this summer, and it appears that might be Walsall.

In a new update by Nixon on Tuesday morning, he claims that the Saddlers are now the favourites to land Pressley's signature ahead of their EFL rivals.

During his time with Brentford, the former Scotland youth international also enjoyed loan stints with AFC Wimbledon and Accrington Stanley respectively.

However, after a modest debut 2023/24 season with Stevenage, in which he scored four times and provided two assists in 25 total appearances for the League One side, and after a slow start to the 2024/25 campaign, he was granted the opportunity to spend the second half of last term out on loan.

Indeed, it was Barrow who secured his services, and he was able to once again return a modest contribution, with four goals and one assist in 21 League Two appearances.

Walsall would certainly be taking a sizeable gamble with Aaron Pressley signing

Walsall's strike department is set to look very different from next season onwards.

Danny Johnson has already been confirmed as leaving the club at the expiration of his contract this summer, whilst loanee Ellis Harrison will return to parent club MK Dons.

Discussions over new deals for Albert Adomah and Jamille Matt are taking place, but even if both of those players stay for another campaign, both are 37 and 35 years of age respectively.

As such, Walsall could very soon be left with just Levi Amantchi and Josh Gordon as the club's two remaining centre-forward options, but strikers struggled to contribute in front of goal in 2024/25.

Therefore, it looks certain that the Saddlers will look to bolster their forward line this summer as they look to put their League Two play-off final heartbreak behind them, and Pressley has shown flashes of being a quality young striker in both the third and fourth tier of English football respectively.

However, the Scotsman has yet to really go on a consistent run of scoring goals, and as such, he's yet to truly prove himself as being a centre-forward that is capable of taking on the responsibility and pressure of being the main man for a League Two club with promotion aspirations.

So, Pressley's signature would certainly bring a significant risk factor with it, in what has the feeling of being a real boom or bust-type of signing.