Argyle holding talks with one club over potential new striker

Head coach Tom Cleverley would not go into any more details than that when asked about the search for a new 'number nine' after the Pilgrims' 1-0 pre-season win away to Torquay United on Tuesday night.

Owen Oseni and Bim Pepple are currently the only two forwards in Argyle's first team squad after the departure of Tolaj, although Cleverley views attacking midfielder Caleb Watts as an option to play there too.

Read More: Argyle got 'wake up call' at Torquay admits Tom Cleverley

Read More: Argyle beat Torquay for third successive pre-season victory

Cleverley said about the search for a new striker: "We have certainly contacted a club around a player that we are interested in. The conversations are being had but I wouldn't say anything is close yet.

"I'm sorry I can't give much more than that at this point, but the conversations started months ago for the potential day that this happened (Tolaj leaving) because he's a good player. In my opinion, he's a Championship striker."

The Pilgrims' boss added: "I see Caleb Watts as a good option there as well. Listen, we are greedy as head coaches, I would love two strikers but I have got a budget to work towards and that would be me probably overspending that. So I think one striker and we will be going for a real quality one."

Tolaj made his first appearance for Bristol City as a 57th minute substitute in a 0-0 draw with Newport County at the Robins' High Performance Centre on Tuesday afternoon.

Cleverley said about the departure of the Swiss striker, who scored as total of 21 goals for Argyle last season: "We received a very fair fee and I wish him all the best for the future.

"It's part and parcel of being at this level that if your players are doing well and you want to develop them to do well there is every chance they move on, and that's every club, not just us."

On how much of the transfer fee that Cleverley would get to spend on strenghtening his squad, Cleverley said: "Relegations, you need to correct that financially over a period of time, so there will be a chunk of it that goes back into the football club, that is normal.

"It's my job to win games, ultimately is my priority, but to develop assets, to develop football players is a huge part of what I love and what I think we are good at as a staff.

"He (Tolaj) won't be the last player that we develop and we sell but, yeah, we will be getting a percentage of it to reinvest in the team and we are hoping we do that very quickly."

Tolaj posted a message about his time at Argyle on Instagram on Tuesday which read: "What a year it has been. Thank you to my teammates, the staff, everyone at the club and especially the amazing fans for all the support from day one.

"I’m proud of everything we achieved together and I’ll always be grateful for the memories. Wishing everyone at Argyle nothing but success for the future. Thank you, Green Army."

Meanwhile, Cleverley stated that no bids have been received for Argyle striker Bim Pepple, who has also been at the centre of transfer speculation this summer.

Cleverley said: "Bim is working hard, he's motivated as ever. You can see in his performance and goal tonight. He has been excellent this pre-season and we are happy he's ours."

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