Lorent Tolaj 'deal agreed' with Plymouth Argyle striker on the move

The Swiss striker was not named in the Argyle squad for their pre-season friendly at Bath City and pre-match Cleverley confirmed in a pre-match interview that a deal for him to depart was in the final stages.

On Thursday it was reported by PlymouthLive that Bristol City had agreed to pay in excess of £4 million for Tolaj plus add-ons and a medical was planned to take place in London.

That now appears to have taken place with the deal close to completion. Guardian reporter Ben Fisher has also stated the medical had taken place on Friday night and the move is likely to be confirmed on Monday.

Cleverley has told Argyle TV: "We have had a fee and a deal agreed with a Championship club. That deal is in the final stages now. We won't comment on who that is out of respect. He (Tolaj) has been a fantastic servant for the football club but we move on."

Tolaj signed for the Pilgrims on a four-year deal last August after they activated a £1.2m release clause in his contract with Port Vale and he went on to have an excellent 2025/26 season.

The Swiss striker finished the campaign as Argyle's top scorer with a total of 21 goals, including 17 in League One, even though he missed much of February and March due to a couple of injuries.

Some of the transfer fee that Argyle receive for Tolaj will go to his former club, Port Vale, as part of a sell-on clause, although it is not clear how much.

The Robins have been hunting for a striker, and this week, manager Michael Skubala said that he expected a deal for one to be done in the next few days.

All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Robins, delivered straight to your inbox.

It's completely free and you can sign up HERE

"I think we are close and we are hopeful we will get that done in the next seven days, if not before," Michael Skubala said to the BBC

"We have still got work to do in that top line to give us different profiles as we go into battle. We are really calm about what we've done so far, James [Ellis, the club's sporting director] and Charlie [Boss, the club's chief executive] have been really supportive in doing some business early."

One other player the Robins had been linked with was Leyton Orient's Dom Ballard. But despite two bids being submitted and rejected, it seems that City have moved on to Tolaj as their top target.

After the O's 2-0 win over Lincoln City on Friday night, boss Richie Wellens confirmed the bids that Skubala's side had made but that a deal wasn't able to be struck.

"He just played second half as he was a bit behind because we had a bid from Bristol which I thought would get done if I'm being honest but just didn't quite go that extra bit," Wellens said of Ballard. "Maybe Bristol have turned elsewhere now so need to get Dom's head down and work. He's obviously disappointed, he wanted to play in the Championship, its financially rewarding for him, but his attitude the last few days has been spot on."

Join Bristol City Live's Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.