“Unfinished business” – Lincoln City backed to strike Oldham Athletic transfer | OneFootball

Our Lincoln Fan Pundit gives his verdict on links to a former Imp on a free transfer

Lincoln City have been linked with a move for current Oldham Athletic midfielder Sam Clucas, who spent some time with the club in his younger years.

That’s according to a report from Football Insider, who state that fellow League One sides Charlton Athletic and Mansfield Town are interested in his services.

The interest comes due to the emergence of a clause in Clucas’s contract that allows him to leave for free if an EFL club comes in for him.

We asked our Imps Fan Pundit, Gary, what he makes of the potential move.

Speaking to Football League World, Gary said: “I think when it comes to Sam Clucas, a lot depends on his fitness.

“I haven't really tracked how he's been doing at Oldham, it surprised me that he rocked up there, 34 years old, he is obviously an experienced player, and that's something we don’t have an awful lot of, Tendayi Darikwa is our only player who's over 30.

"Potentially, we may lose Ethan Erhahon in the transfer window as well, which is the position that Sam Clucas plays.

"So I can see some value in the move, depending on Clucas’s current fitness levels, because if we are going to lose an Erhahon and potentially a target that we would like to bring in to replace him is not available until the summer window, I can understand us bringing somebody like Clucas in and maybe playing two sixes, Clucas and/or McGrandles.

“I also think he’d be brilliant around the training ground, particularly for players like Oisin Gallagher, who's on loan at Peterborough Sports, but still trains with us full-time.

“So, I can see benefits in it, but he’s not a long-term solution. He’s certainly not a signing that's going to massively, massively impact our output.

“But there's also an element of romance. He played one game for us before going off to Glenn Hoddle’s academy and starting his career properly at Hereford, you know, he's well-known in Lincoln, he's a Lincoln boy. He was working in Debenhams, I think, when he was when he was first plucked out of obscurity to play for the Imps.

“So there's an element of unfinished business, and he does feel a little bit like when Lee Frecklington came back in the 2017/18 season. I mean, Fred came back, scored the penalty against Chelsea to put us to Wembley and kind of wrote a post-script to his Lincoln City career, so maybe Sam Clucas could do that.”

Lincoln moving for Clucas would make sense on a number of fronts

As Gary identifies, with situations like Erhahon’s far from certain at the LNER Stadium, there’s a high chance there will be a vacant role in the middle of the park for a player like Clucas to fill.

January business is never the easiest as clubs are reluctant to unsettle their squad midway through a season, so if they do have an unexpected departure themselves, they could certainly do worse than the 34-year-old Clucas, who has plenty of Premier League and Championship experience under his belt.

Aside from the on-pitch plus points, and the romantic storyline of his return, to his hometown, his experience could prove invaluable to a team like Lincoln.

They are the sixth-youngest squad in League One, with an average age of 24.8, so adding an older, seasoned professional into the mix could add another missing ingredient to this Imps team.

A cheap deal, with a nice storyline and genuine squad justification — it may not go down as the trendiest signing, but getting Clucas in at Lincoln certainly has a lot of practical positives.