Exeter City should capitalise on Tottenham, Oxford United disappointment | OneFootball

Dane Scarlett has had his loan at Oxford United ended and, he may literally be out of our league, but Exeter City should, at least, as the question.

Funny things can happen in the January transfer window.

Exeter City came into it looking for two "quality" additions, according to manager Gary Caldwell.

And now, with around a week to go until the winter window closes, the Grecians are scrambling to get four deals done.

Young attacking midfielder Joel Colwill has arrived to bolster an already packed midfield department, while City's best player this year, on-loan centre-back Tristan Crama, was suddenly recalled by Brentford and sold on to Millwall last week.

One in, one out, but it looks that defender Johnly Yfeko might be absent for a while with a fresh hamstring injury, though it is on the other leg that kept him out for about 10 weeks recently, and we're not sure of the expected layoff yet.

While City have midfielders of all kinds coming out of their ears, centre-backs and strikers are in relatively short supply - at least the ones that Caldwell trusts are.

Exeter are looking to sign a striker

The Grecians are in the unenviable situation of losing key players and not having too much room to play with in the budget, so Caldwell might have to turn to the loan market once again.

There seems to be plenty happening (everywhere else) in the EFL this month and at the start of the week someone became available who, in a perfect scenario, would be of interest.

Dane Scarlett was recalled by Tottenham from his loan spell at Oxford United after already struggling for game time and then falling further down the pecking order once Gary Rowett arrived at the Kassam.

After the news broke the new Us boss explained why Scarlett was recalled and hinted that another loan may be imminent for the 20-year-old striker.

Rowett told the Oxford Mail: “Looking at it, I can sort of understand. You’ve got a young player with lots and lots of quality and potential.

“Starting is always a challenge for any young striker, but also having seen the strength, and with Tom Bradshaw, maybe they felt that opportunity was going to be even less.

“We understand it. It’s maybe something we felt could happen when we brought Tom in. I hope he gets what he wants out of potentially a next loan because he’s a really nice lad."

City desperately need a goal scorer at the top of the pitch, though Millenic Alli has rediscovered his shooting boots from wide positions in the last month or so.

He's up to six, which is still three more than anyone else in the squad, but is hardly setting any houses on fire.

Dane Scarlett deal will be hard to pull off

Scarlett has scored four goals in the Championship in the first half of the season for a struggling team, averaging just over 39 minutes per appearance, so would surely come in and add a threat at League One level.

One problem would, of course, be wages, but if Spurs are desperate for him to get regular football then St James Park would be a good destination.

Spurs might want him to play in the Championship but if he's struggling to get in at Oxford that doesn't leave too many options.

He spent a season in League One with Portsmouth in 2022/23 but if it's a quick-fix six months to hopefully get his confidence up and have some game time at a decent level while, hopefully, bagging a few goals along the way then Exeter would be a good place for him to land before the end of the month.