2026/2027 - Transfer Wishlist

Retained List

We have our retained list!!! The Magpies yesterday published our retained list for the 2026/2027 season with only a few surprises. As expected Liam Dulson has not accepted our contract offer and joins Josh Popoola in departing for full time football presumably. I'm surprised that Ryan Bartley hasn't been kept on and Luke May-Parrott must be terrible in training as he only played about 25 minutes of first team football so that signing feels very odd. I'm really happy the squad has been cleared of some of the deadwood although it's now very clear how much work Ryan Peters and Lee Devonshire have to do to put together a squad that will look to challenge for the title.

As you can see from the image below, the squad has a lot of holes in it so I thought I’d look at possible transfer options available to the club in this post. I’d caveat this whole article by stating that I am by no means a non-league football expert having spent most of my free weekends supporting the Magpies but I’ve used the last week scouring twitter, fans forums and YouTube in order to identify these players. 

Work To Do

Assuming Peters plays a similar formation to last season, there are four key areas for recruitment.

LB/LWB – Whilst I rate Ragguette highly we were very short of left sided players, in particular at the back across the season. Ragguette struggled to play two games a week and we definitely need a bit of cover here.

CB – As Manny O struggles to play on non-grass pitches, Remy isn’t always available and with Will De Havilland leaving us, this is a crucial area for the club to plug this summer. With Josh McMememy likely going on loan, I still believe we need at least two more player in this area.

 CM – With Harry Pritchard retiring, Asher Yearwood announcing his departure and Kane Ferdinand finally going this position has to be a priority for the club. As Pritchard and Ferdinand were presumably on good money I would hope this can be used to find some top quality replacements.

AM/WM – I would assume that Ryan Peters will continue with 3-4-3/3-5-2 formation next season meaning we are desperately short of wide attackers and central attacking midfielders accounting for tweaks in the system. With Popoola going and Dulson out the door as well we really need to find some creative spark or players that bring the most out of Umerah.

Just Call me Lee Dev

LB – John Clarke is the first player that springs to mind. Released by Reading this summer he spent a few months on loan at Slough so he knows this level. When I asked my Slough Town season ticket holder mate about him he replied that “it’s faint praise but he was one of our best defenders. He can definitely play at a higher level”. He has a good engine and is not afraid to get forward but he is perhaps more solid defensively than Raguette. Olly Scott is an attacking left wing back with an excellent delivery who has been released by Aldershot. He has also played regularly as a left sided CB in a back three as well so he can provide some much needed cover there as well. He is 26 years old and offers experience playing at a higher level so I think he would make an excellent signing. My final pick is Reggie Young who was just released by Dagenham to the consternation of many of their online fanbase. Young is another attacking LWB who would provide very similar attributes to Raguette meaning he should fit nicely into the system Peters plays. Young impressed regularly for Farnborough albeit at a lower level prior to his move to the Daggers. 

CB – This one is a real wild card but I saw Sam Hutchinson was released by AFC Wimbledon and I think he could be a perfect replacement for WDH as both a leader and as a CB. I believe Hutchinson is a Maidenhead local and at 36 it would be fitting for him to wind down his career at his home town club after a serious health scare when he suffered an in-game cardiac arrest a couple of years ago. He is an excellent centre half and I imagine he’d have to take a massive pay cut but maybe after a few years of limited football he’d fancy the challenge. If we are looking for an experienced ex football league central defender Harlee Dean who has just left Morecombe would be another player worth looking at. He played for a few clubs across non-league before his big move to Southampton and and he may want a better finish to his career than relegation from the football league. Whilst signing Hutchinson or Dean may be described as pie in the sky, a more realistic target would be another ex-Aldershot player Josh Brooking. Brooking came through the Reading academy system before he was snapped up by Chelsea. He didn’t quite make the grade for the Blues but he was signed by Dorking after being released in 2024 meaning he has experience playing at Step 2. He offers much needed pace at the back with classy distribution as well. He is a bit of a risk having had a poor injury record last season but to be honest, without this injury record, he would be far too good to be playing at our level. Lastly in this category, it would be a real statement signing, but Kyle Ajayi from Hemel Hempstead would be a huge player for us. He is without doubt one of the best centre backs in the division who offers leadership as he has been Hemel’s captain over the past two years. I imagine he’ll stay with Hemel but I believe he only signed on for another season last summer so there may be an opportunity if we can sell ourselves as one of the promotion favourites.

CM – Finding someone of a similar level to Matt Robinson which may allow us to rest Robinson a little more this season will be crucial to our promotion chances. I always think it’s a decent transfer strategy to try and pick off some of the best relegated players, and on that note I would look to sign Caine Bradbury. Bradbury was brought to my attention by the excellent OffTheLine blog as one of the best technical midfielders in the NLS. He’s played over 100 games at this level and his ability to both make late runs into the box, and spray passes across the pitch would be huge assets for the Magpies who struggled to create chances at vital times last season. He can also take a decent set piece which is always a bonus. My second pick would be Jack Young who was released by Worthing after their promotion. Young has played for Wycombe but really made a huge impact at NLS level for Dorking in the second half of the 24/25 season as a ball winning energetic midfielder who I think would dovetail well with Robinson. He was signed by Worthing in January 2026 to help them get their promotion bid over the line and player 17 games for them during their successful title run-in. Young is a tried and tested NLS player who I think would be a real crowd favourite. My third pick for an available central midfielder would be George Knight who spent the second half of last season at Dorking. Prior to this he had a hugely successful spell at Bracknell Town where he had been vice captain which would add further leadership credentials to our squad. Knight is a tenacious defensive midfielder who I believe would add some much needed bite in the SL Classico although I envisage him as more of a squad player than guaranteed starter.  My final pick is Kai Yearn, as I’ve said in previous blogs, I really didn’t think he was given enough chances by Dev but at Chesham he really showed what he could do in a slightly more advanced role. Despite his young age he now has a fair bit of experience playing at this level and was just released by Coventry. In a dream world I would also list Jack Spong here who was bafflingly released by Worthing, although I assume he must be going to play at a higher level.

AM/WM/ST -It’s an easy two picks as both Basil Tuma and Jeremiah Okine-Peters were recently released by Reading. As GMOSC has stated on Twitter Okine-Peters absolutely tore us apart in the Berks and Bucks Cup last season. In my opinion he is exactly the kind of young local talent we should be giving a chance to as a stepping stone back to league football. Tuma would be a decent replacement for Dulson as a wide forward who can also cover a more central role if required. Tuma impressed at Slough Town last season on loan and I’m sure it means nothing at all but he was always a bloody good signing for me on the Football Manager game… In real life, I thought he was excellent against us in the second half when coming on as a substitute in the 2-2 draw at Arbour Park. If we are talking about dream signings I wonder if it would be at all possible to bring Josh Kelly back. Now I know this is highly unlikely but he was released by Wimbledon and by most accounts he didn't set the National League alight last season whilst at Woking. Maybe a season at NLS level similar to Liam Dulson, who also dropped down two divisions to join us last summer, will enable him to recapture his best form and give league football another go. My third and fourth picks are Centre Forwards if Peters decides to go two up top with a player in the AM role behind them, using our attacking wing-backs for width. The first of these options is Shaquille Gwengwe from Poole Town. The guy is a goalscoring machine who is surely due a move up the pyramid. He scored 45 times for Poole last season as they finished 4th in the Southern Premier League and prior to this he has scored goals wherever he has been; including at AFC Totton and Dorchester. My final option is a pure centre forward who would provide depth and competition for Umerah and Alfie Pendlebury, Alex Reid. He was released by Hartlepool United and whilst the wrong side of 30 he is a guaranteed goalscorer at this level and higher. With strikers like Paul McCallum joining Step 3 sides I don't think it's beyond imagining we could tempt someone like Reid to York Road. 

This is the first time I have written a piece like this so let me know if you agree/disagree with my picks or if you think I'm in cloud-cuckoo land even thinking a player like Josh Kelly could come back. Until next time, see you on the Bell End. Up the Mags!