Gillingham weighing up ambitious move for Salford City player | OneFootball

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Gillingham are interested in signing Salford City striker Callum Hendry, according to journalist Alan Nixon.

The Gills are plotting an ambitious move for Hendry, but the Ammies' valuation could prove to be a stumbling block.

Salford are said to be demanding £300,000 for Hendry this summer and Gillingham are unwilling to meet that asking price.

Hendry began his career with Blackburn Rovers, but after being released by Rovers in 2017 having never made a senior appearance for the club, he moved north of the border to join St Johnstone.

The 25-year-old scored 23 goals in 94 games for the Saints in a five-year stint at McDiarmid Park, during which he had loan spells with Brechin City, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

Hendry made the move to the Ammies last summer and he enjoyed an excellent debut season at the Peninsula Stadium, scoring 14 goals and providing six assists in 49 appearances in all competitions to help Neil Wood's side reach the League Two play-offs, where they were beaten by Stockport County in the semi-finals.

The striker has started all three games in all competitions so far this season in what has been a strong start to the campaign for Salford with four points from their opening two league matches, while they also knocked Championship side Preston North End out of the Carabao Cup.

Gillingham's summer transfer business

It has been a busy summer for the Gills, with Max Clark, Conor Masterson, Jonny Williams, Shadrach Ogie, Scott Malone, Ashley Nadesan and Macauley Bonne arriving at Prestfield as Neil Harris looks to build a squad capable of challenging for promotion from the fourth tier.

Gillingham registered a 1-0 home win over Accrington Stanley on Saturday to continue their perfect start to the season, with Nadesan's 29th-minute strike sealing all three points for Harris' men.

Nadesan has scored two goals in his first three games for the club since his move from Crawley Town, while the signing of Bonne this week further strengthens the Gills' forward line.

It remains to be seen whether the Gills will look to bring in another striker, but Harris could be tempted to enter the market after demanding more ruthlessness from his side after the victory against Stanley.

"I made six changes from the other night, I picked a fresh team, there was only Robbie, Max and Shad that played 90 minutes the other night. I warned the group about it being after the Lord Mayor’s Show, starting a bit slow, and nobody clearly listened," Harris told Kent Online.

"We were so slow out of the blocks and it took me to raise my voice on the side to get us going, then after that I thought we were excellent and we dominated the game.

"There was only one team who was ever going to win that game, however, we have to be more clinical and ruthless because if you don’t then teams will punish you and that is what the lads have to realise.

"We should score three or four more goals. I am happy with the scoreline, happy with a lot of elements of the performance but I need to see better quality in the final third from my team. "They get a free-kick right at the end and the ball could have floated over (the goalkeeper’s) head and into the top corner. It wouldn’t be Jake Turner’s fault or my defence’s fault, we needed to stick the ball in the other end. That is my demand of the group and that is for us to keep working on. "It is my job to push them, as a manager it is my job to get the best out of the changing room, my staff and players. "I don’t want anyone to think that I am not happy, I am delighted with the points, but it is my job to keep pushing the group, especially in the early stages of the season while we are fresh and have a fit and hungry group.

"I want more. I don’t want us to settle for what we’ve just seen, we are going to have to ramp it up."

Would Callum Hendry be a good signing for Gillingham?

Hendry would be an excellent addition for the Gills.

He has proven his quality at League Two level after an impressive season at Salford last term and he would likely thrive in a Gillingham side full of attacking quality and creativity.