Lincoln City Close in on Third Summer Signing

League One Lincoln City are closing in on a potential replacement for Bolton Wanderers summer signing Ethan Erhahon. 

The Imps sold the Scottish midfielder this summer for a fee understood to be around £750k plus add-ons and a sell-on percentage. However, the club are yet to replace him.

So far Michael Skubala has brought in Sonny Bradley and Ryley Towler, in what has proved to be a quiet window so far. They have also lost Paudie O’Connor, Sean Roughan and most recently Jovon Makama.

Despite this they have won two of their opening three games, against Reading in the league and Harrogate Town in the cup which bookend a poor defeat to AFC Wimbledon.

With the window now swiftly approaching the final stages, any additions will have to be acted upon quickly.

Lincoln City Move for Ivan Varfolomeyev

Lincoln City have been linked to 21-year-old holding midfielder Ivan Varfolomeyev who is currently playing for Slovan Liberec who play in the Czech First League. The publication Fotbalové přestupy, suggests the fee will be in the region of 800,000 euros, which will include bonuses and a percentage of any future sale.

This value would mark a huge increase in willingness to spend by the Imps, who traditionally operate in the low six figures as a maximum. Ethan Erhahon was understood to have been purchased for below £300k when he moved from St Mirren in 2023.

This could be down to the income from the sales of both Makama and Erhahon, who brought in over £2million.

Sensible League One Club in Changing Transfer Market

The League One that the Imps first stepped into several seasons ago was very different to the one it finds itself in today. Despite the club increasing its spend  it finds itself in the position of having to punch above its weight. The budgets swelled to enormous value, with internal league sales hitting north of seven figures on a regular basis.

The Imps have had to spend more just to stand still. But the club’s hierarchy are known to be shrewd in the transfer market and the development model can work. Makama is the latest example of how it should work, but it needs to happen more frequently. It is interesting to see the club move to restructure the board to invite more investment.

They have got more inventive with their spending, with the signing of Erik Ring an example of targeting emerging European leagues.