Plymouth Argyle will be forgetting transfer heartache at a rapid rate now | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle are quickly forgetting their summer transfer struggles thanks to the form of striker Lorent Tolaj.

Plymouth Argyle will be quickly forgetting their transfer blunders earlier in the summer, as the emergence of new striker Lorent Tolaj has the Green Army on cloud-nine.

The story of the summer at Home Park was the struggles in the transfer market to land a new number nine, following the departure of long-serving striker and fan favourite, Ryan Hardie, to Wrexham early in the window.

It took Tom Cleverley’s side multiple attempts to finally get their man, as they initially had their heart set on Burton Albion’s Rumarn Burrell, who joined Queens Park Rangers, and then Nottingham Forest’s Dale Taylor, who instead joined League One rivals Blackpool.

After an awful start to the season which saw the Greens lose all four of their opening League One matches, the board decided to bite the bullet and splash a reported £1.2m fee to activate Port Vale striker Tolaj’s release clause, which saw him become Argyle’s new number nine.

The Swiss forward has been a huge success at Home Park, revolutionising Cleverley’s frontline and helping his new team climb the table. With his performances getting better and better, the summer striker struggles are now becoming just distant memories for the Green Army.

Plymouth Argyle suffered multiple setbacks before landing Lorent Tolaj

Despite a rejuvenated end to the campaign under Miron Muslic that came agonisingly close to pulling off the greatest of escapes, the Pilgrims began to be picked apart once their relegation to League One was confirmed, following a final day defeat to champions Leeds United.

With Muslic heading for FC Schalke 04, and plenty of key players, including star striker Hardie, heading for the exit in the summer, new boss Cleverley had an enormous task on his hands to try and build a competitive squad pretty much from scratch.

Whilst reinforcements were brought in elsewhere, the number nine shirt was the big one that the club and its new head coach wanted to get bang on, as they understood the weight of that specific shirt on the player wearing it, and the expectations that would come from the adoring Green Army.

With that in mind, Plymouth drew up a list of targets. Top of this list was Burton striker Burrell, who’d burst onto the scene for the Brewers with 10 league goals in his first campaign after signing from Scottish side Cove Rangers, but Championship outfit QPR would beat the Pilgrims to his signing.

This saw the Devon-based side move on to Nottingham Forest prodigy Taylor, who won Wigan Athletic’s Player of the Season for the previous campaign.

However, big-spending Blackpool proved to be the more attractive option for the Northern Irishman, who opted to head to Bloomfield Road instead of Home Park.

These transfer setbacks were having an impact on the pitch as well, as Argyle lost all four of their opening four league matches and looked toothless up front.

This led to the board deciding to go in aggressively, and pay £1.2m to activate Port Vale striker Tolaj’s release clause, which has proven to be a stroke of genius.

The signing of Tolaj was a big risk, particularly with the money involved. However, the Swiss forward was brimming with confidence, having been lethal in front of goal with Aldershot Town and Port Vale previously, and this has certainly translated into his performances for Plymouth so far.

Firstly, something Hardie possessed was a big personality, which made him a smash hit with the Green Army. Tolaj certainly has this as well, as his supporters have quickly taken him into their hearts, which was a key criteria that Cleverley set out for his new number nine.

His performances on the pitch have also backed Argyle’s decision to sign him up, with five goals in eight games across all competitions. But it’s not only his goalscoring antics that have caught the eye, as his hold-up play and being the heartbeat of the team’s attacking play has also dazzled the Green Army.

From where Plymouth were just a couple of months ago, this feels like night and day, and despite their lowly league position, there are signs that something is starting to click, and they can turn around their sluggish start to the campaign.

Whilst the nightmare of the striker hunt was a painful task to endure for the Green Army, those woes have been quickly dashed thanks to the electric start of the man they ended up signing, which is the best-case scenario for the Devon side.