Bristol Rovers on verge of completing club-record League Two transfer raid | OneFootball

Bristol Rovers may be some way off the League One play-off spots, but it will not stop their hierarchy from backing relatively new manager Matt Taylor, who has been in the post now for two months.

The Gas have been inconsistent still since Taylor's arrival, but a couple of fresh faces could really help out - especially in midfield as the likes of Ryan Woods and Lamare Bogarde have been recalled by their parent clubs during the month of January.

It looks as though Rovers are closing in on sorting that area of the pitch out though, and they are set to pay a significant enough fee to make a deal happen.

The Sierra Leone international, who has played 25 times in League Two for the Mariners this season, was reported as a target for Taylor's side last week, but the 21-year-old's release clause has now been triggered and Rovers are in talks to agree personal terms with Conteh.

And it is believed that should a deal go through, it would be a club-record agreement for Rovers according to the report, whose previous highest-paid deal was when Andy Tillson arrived at the club in 1992 for £370,000.

Having signed for Grimsby in the summer from Middlesbrough, Conteh has attracted admirers for his performances in the fourth tier of English football this season, and in his position as a holding midfielder he has averaged 3.2 tackles per game - the highest in the entire division.

He also impressed on loan in the National League with Gateshead last season, which led to his permanent switch to an EFL side, but Conteh now looks to be heading up another league and into the third tier, providing personal terms get thrashed out.

Matt Taylor took over the Bristol Rovers hotseat following the dismissal of Joey Barton.

With Matt Taylor pretty regularly playing two holding midfielders in a 3-4-1-2 formation, coupled with losing Woods and Bogarde back to Hull and Aston Villa this month, there is very clearly a need to bolster the club's engine room.

And in Conteh, Bristol Rovers are set to land the best tackler in the whole of League Two, and given he's a full international and also only 21 years of age, there is likely going to be marked improvement surrounded by a better quality of player.

Having not broken their transfer record in over 30 years, it could be seen as a gamble for Rovers to be paying a fee of what you would assume is in excess of £400,000 for a player that is yet to play above League Two level.

But having developed himself in the lower leagues, Conteh will now be streetwise and also has technical ability in abundance, so he could be a player that makes Rovers a lot of money in the future.