Who do Mansfield Town sign in the summer?

Mansfield Town have sealed promotion to League One.

The Stags finished 8th in League Two last season, but they have improved massively this term and have brought to an end their time in the EFL’s basement tier. They now prepare for what promises to be their first season back in League One since 2003.

If they are to be competitive in League Two next year, Nigel Clough will once again have to recruit strongly as he has done this term.

With that in mind, I take a look at where The Stags may need to strengthen their squad in the summer and recommend some targets to look at.

Arlo Doherty (Leicester City – loan)

Mansfield Town have two back-end, 30’s goalkeepers as their back-up to Christy Pym – Scott Flinders and Adam Collin – and so one area they will likely need to address in the summer is a young goalkeeper to play understudy to Pym.

One player that I think The Stags should look at is Foxes goalkeeper Arlo Doherty. He is a player highly-rated in Foxes circles, and has spent some of this season out on loan at Mickleover Sports. Now, the obvious assumption would be that he is not able to make the step-up from playing for Mickleover Sports to then being part of a side adjusting to life in League One, however I think that it would do him no end of good,

Doherty is going to be learning underneath a top goalkeeper in his own right in Pym, and alongside Flinders and Collin in the event that either of them remain at the club. In terms of his development, it would be an invaluable experience for him and given the reliability of Pym the chance of Doherty being called upon to be a regular player in League One is slim.

He is a powerful, explosive goalkeeper who is good in the air and coming for crosses, a strong kicker and someone who commands his penalty area. He has just signed a new deal with Leicester City and so is one that they clearly have highlighted as being one for the future. I feel that a loan move like this would be good for his career, and in turn give The Stags the younger, more nimble goalkeeping understudy that they need.

Lewis Brunt (Leicester City – loan)

Perhaps the least surprising name on this list as a potential signing for Nigel Clough’s side this summer is another Foxes youngster in the form of Lewis Brunt. The young defender has spent this season on loan with The Stags, and so I feel that there is a good chance that Clough will go back in for him in the summer with another loan deal.

For Brunt, it makes a whole lot of sense, and it is one whereby The Foxes will likely see it is a sensible decision for his development. He is going to get regular minutes under a coach that knows him well having managed him this term, and he goes back into an environment that he is accustomed to. There is a familiarity there that City can rely on to ensure that the loan spell is productive – as it has been this term – and so it is a win-win for the defender.

In terms of what Brunt brings to this Mansfield Town side, The Stags fans do not need me to wax lyrical about the City man, but one thing that I think is particularly useful for their squad-building efforts in League One is his versatility and the fact he covers so many bases. He can play right across the back four, and I am all for recommending players who are going to provide value for the money in the way that Brunt does.

He has had a successful season in League Two with The Stags this year, and as they step-up a level, I feel a return to Mansfield Town is the best place for him next year. He seems to have been well-received by Stags supporters, and from those I have spoken to have given me rave reviews, and so I am looking forward to seeing how Brunt continues his development under Clough at his highest level yet.

Shaun Rooney (Fleetwood Town – free)

One avenue that Nigel Clough could look to in the summer in adding to their side is in looking at players at the sides relegated from League One, and picking out players who are perhaps wanting a new start and an opportunity to remain in the third tier. One that immediately stands out having impressed me in parts is Fleetwood Town man Shaun Rooney.

Rooney was an ever-present for The Cod Army in the 2022-23 campaign as one of their more notable performers, proving to be an astute piece of business in signing from Scotland. However, given reported fallouts with management and injury woes, Rooney hasn’t been able to get as many minutes to his name this term and with the Scot out of contract at the end of the season, I think there is a good chance that he will look to move on.

With the addition of Lewis Brunt, The Stags do have cover in the full-back areas and indeed across the back four, but I do feel they need further cover on the right-hand side. They have played Lucas Akins their at times this season and indeed Jordan Bowery, but if The Stags are to stay up in League One next year then they cannot rely on Bowery to be the starter every single game and so an extra option is needed.

In terms of what type of defender Shaun Rooney is, he has been used primarily as a right wing-back prior to his move South to Fleetwood Town. However, he can be used more centrally, too. He is often a safe bet for a couple of goals each season and so provides The Stags with additional goal-threat from set-pieces. He is experienced, a no-nonsense defender, and just the type I expect Nigel Clough would look working with.

Panutche Camara (Ipswich Town – free)

Mansfield Town have some good midfield options in their side, but one profile of midfielder that I do think they have missed – and something that I highlighted last summer – was a box-to-box midfield option.

They have a technical sitter in Louis Reed who provides metronomic passing, and they’ve got the experience of players such as Stephen Quinn and Hiram Boateng who are capable creators and passers of the ball, as well as the industry of players such as Ollie Clarke and George Maris. However, I think that they would benefit from having that more leggy, physical, athlete profile who can get up and down the pitch and as such they should have a look at Panutche Camara.

Every season, there are “gems” who have perhaps come off the back of poor previous seasons and now available on frees, but who are all the while top players who could flourish; I think Camara is one of those. He found minutes with Ipswich Town limited to say the least, and his loan spell at Charlton Athletic has hardly been anything to shout about, however I do think that he is still a hugely talented player and in terms of what he brings stylistically, I think he would compliment this Stags midfield well.

Camara is someone who showed during his time that he can play in varied roles in midfield, but a player who I feel is best-suited to driving with the ball from deep and using his power and physicality to carry it into the final third. He brings an energy and work-rate that is infectious, buzzes around the pitch with a real tenacity to win the ball back, and is someone who I think knits both sides of the game together really nicely.

D’Margio Wright-Phillips (Stoke City – free)

One thing that I feel The Stags could benefit from adding is pace. I think that as you go up the divisions as Mansfield Town are, there is an added emphasis on power, pace and athleticism, and one player that The Stags could look to add in order to tick that box is Stoke City youngster D’Margio Wright-Phillips.

Stoke City are going to have a really important summer of re-building, with the need for lots of players in and out of their side. They have to make clever decisions and unfortunately that may mean difficult ones, too, when it comes to moving players on. D’Margio Wright-Phillips is one that I feel will be allowed to depart the football club, having spent time out on loan in Belgium and having found a pathway into the first-team with City tough.

The decision Wright-Phillips has to make this summer is whether or not he wants to stay at a Championship club and potentially be a fringe player, or go to a League One club on a permanent deal and feature more frequently. For the benefit of his career and accelerating his development, I feel that the later is certainly more favourable.

He is only 22 years of age, and so this would represent a long-term addition for The Stags. Granted, for a player who has played higher than League One and been in and around England youth set-ups, this may be viewed as an ambitious signing. But, I feel it gives The Stags an energy and mobility down the right which they need and an unpredictability in the final third that complements the remainder of their attacking options.

Chris Conn-Clarke (Altrincham – free)

I am always going to be an advocate for EFL sides going and adding players from the non-league scene, and someone who will no doubt be of interest to many teams in the Football League is Chris Conn-Clarke. Out of contract at Altrincham at the end of this season, Conn-Clarke has once again impressed – one of the standout performers in the National League – and he would be a useful addition to this Stags attack.

This Stags attack strikes me as one which is really hard-working and industrious, but I feel that one thing that would transform their output is to add that player with a bit of flair, trickery and skill to unlock better defences and better sides; Conn-Clarke is more than capable of that. He has shown for The Robins that he is a mazy dribbler with quick feet, an eye for a pass and the spectacular.

I think that Conn-Clarke would complement this Mansfield Town side, giving them more creative expression at the top end of the pitch. They are going to need players that are able to play those passes that no one else can see and create something out of nothing, and the youngster does that. He plays with a swagger and confidence befitting of a player right at the top of their game, and with a strong Stags defence, the freedom of movement he would be afforded would allow him to go and do what he does best.

He is at an Altrincham side who are themselves looking to get into the EFL through the National League play-offs, but this is an opportunity for the former Fleetwood Town man to jump back into League One and work under a manager that has a track record of success and improving players. Conn-Clarke has demonstrated that he has the technical skillsets to play on the highest of stages, and this may be too good a deal to turn down.

Fabio Tavares (Coventry City – loan)

One player who I think should go out on loan in the 2024-25 campaign and as such should be of interest to Mansfield Town is Coventry City front man Fabio Tavares. The Stags – I feel – need to add a more natural goal-scorer to complement the all-round hard-working types of Will Swan and Rhys Oates, and I think Tavares could well be one to take a chance on.

Given that The Sky Blues have Haji Wright and Ellis Simms as the starting options and experienced Matt Godden also in reserve, Tavares has continued to find his route into the first-team difficult to come by and I think he now needs to bite the bullet and go out and get regular first-team minutes. Nigel Clough has a good track record for loan players, with most loanees succeeding under Clough’s stewardship, and so signing for The Stags could well be beneficial for Tavares.

The youngster has played out wide and through the middle, and I think that for the qualities that he offers – his pace, trickery and running – he is better in the spaces between the centre-backs and full-backs in being able to get on the turn and getting his head down at goal.

His minutes in the first-team have been few and far between, but in the small sample size I have seen of the forward, he has shown that he is a capable finisher. He has made just eight appearances for The Sky Blues – four in the league and four in the cup – and yet has registered three goals. He has done well for City in the academy, and impressed during his time at Rochdale in breaking through, and I think that with the right guidance under a manager like Nigel Clough, he could be a handful in League One.