Conor Washington joins the circus

Chatham lad Conor Washington becomes Lee Bowyer and Steve Gallen’s second mid-season signing.

I wonder if the EFL are allowing signings on a case by case basis as long as we keep within our budget and show evidence of a plan to move to a secure ownership?

A lot of out of contract and loan players have moved on and I will be surprised to see us start the season with both Dillon Phillips and Alfie Doughty. Remembering the transfer window doesn’t actually close until October 16th.

Washington is 28, and scored plenty of goals for Peterborough in League One before making a move said to be worth as much as £3m to QPR in 2016. He then played 15 games for Sheffield United but didn’t get many goals at Championship level.

The Blades released him last summer and he signed a 2-year contract at Hearts. Yet a hamstring injury and then Covid restricted him to just 15 league appearances scoring 3 goals.

Hearts were relegated to the Scottish Championship on a PPG basis and were keen to get Washington off their wage bill.

Washington has 21 Northern Ireland caps and last played for the Irish against Germany last September.

Steve Gallen said: “He’s a good player, I’ve known about him for quite a few years, we sort of crossed over at QPR. I’ve always tracked him and followed him, keeping an eye on him from there. We talked to him last summer about joining, so when the opportunity came up, we jumped on it.”