Tom Cleverley confirms Adam Randell set for Plymouth Argyle exit
Tom Cleverley has admitted there is a 'strong possibility' that Plymouth Argyle midfielder Adam Randell will complete a move to Championship club Bristol City.
It is understood Randell, who has 12 months remaining on his contract with the Pilgrims, will have a medical tomorrow ahead of his transfer to City, who appointed Gerhard Struber as their new head coach today.
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His expected departure from Home Park comes after striker Ryan Hardie, Argyle's 2024/25 top goalscorer and player-of-the-year, joined Wrexham, newly promoted to the Championship, on Monday for a reported fee of £700,000 on a three-year contract.
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Randell, who often captained Argyle last season when Joe Edwards was out injured or not selected for the side, has made a total of 173 appearances for his hometown club, including 124 starts, and scored 10 goals.
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Cleverley was asked about the reports of Randell joining Bristol City during his introductory Press conference as the Pilgrims' new head coach at Home Park this lunchtime.
He said: "It's a similar situation to Ryan (Hardie), you are going to have a lot of interest and especially when there is buy-out clauses and things like that, so there is a strong possibility that that happens."
Cleverley explained that former Argyle head coach Wayne Rooney, who played with Cleverley for Manchester United and England, had only good things to say about Randell.
"He's a player that I really admire," continued Cleverley. "When we played Plymouth in the cup last year, Wayne spoke really highly of him, and being a midfielder myself he's someone who I have paid a lot of attention to over the last 10 months. I'm disappointed I'm not able to work with him but never stand in the way of anyone wanting to play at the top level."
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Cleverley confirmed he had been aware of the possibility of Hardie leaving Argyle during the process which led to him becoming their head coach.
"When a relegation happens, I think there is always interest in the best players so we were prepared for that," he declared. "What I would say is the early business the club has done has been very good.
"I feel I would have been very aligned with that business if I was in the building at the time, and I'm really excited by those players. We don't want to dwell on the players we have lost too much.
"Ryan was a fantastic player and servant for the club. Him and (Mustapha) Bundu really caught fire in the second part of the season and we wish him all the best."
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Bundu, who finished as Argyle's 11-goal second top scorer last season, has moved on from the club as a free agent after rejecting the offer of a new contract. It leaves Cleverley without a senior striker in his squad at the moment.
Cleverley said: "We are all working hard towards that. We don't want to be kneejerk with bringing one in because we haven't got any in the building.
"We want to get the right players in that will fit into our project. Everyone is working really hard towards that and I'm sure there will be some news soon."
He added: "We will be working from a variation of a 4-2-3-1. It's quite rotational and when you play with a 10 and a nine that number 10 can be like a second striker at times. I like the system because it's quite adaptable within the framework."
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