My Exeter City transfer deadline day dream involves triple late swoop and Jake Richards movement | OneFootball

It's been a chaotic January for Exeter City on and off the pitch but here's what would make it a dream winter window for the Grecians.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

At the start of the month, Exeter City boss Gary Caldwell said he was expecting a quiet January transfer window - but pretty much everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

He said he was eyeing two quality additions to bolster City's squad, with many assuming that a striker was top of his wishlist.

Injuries to pretty much everyone in defence was compounded by the recall of Tristan Crama by Brentford and then Luton Town came in and made an offer that couldn't be refused for top scorer Millenic Alli.

On the pitch, performances and results have been very poor and City are now scrambling to get players in and turn their fortunes around with Kamari Doyle and Amani Richards also recalled by their parent clubs.

Ryan Trevitt and Alex Hartridge both arrived on Thursday to join Joel Colwill on loan at St James Park but, with two of them being attacking-minded playmakers, there are still plenty of holes to fill in the squad at the time of writing.

Hartridge is welcome cover for a back line that's almost completely crocked, but another decent body before the window closes would really help.

Time for Exeter to spend on a striker

City already needed a striker before Alli left but, now Caldwell has a few quid to spend, breaking the club-record fee of £100,000 spent on Jayden Stockley back in August 2017 for another hitman is an absolute must in the next few days.

The Grecians have been crying out for attacking reinforcements for a long while and, with their top scorer gone, there's absolutely no excuse for not spending the cash to bolster the front line.

City knew Alli was going on Wednesday evening, which left them five full days to get a deal done for a quality forward. No more excuses.

Alli's departure also leaves a bit of a space on the left wing which Demetri Mitchell would be more than capable of filling if fully fit.

He's been used sparingly since his return from a lengthy knee injury, but he might be pressed into action on a full-time basis now to cover Alli's loss.

There was some confusion as to why Tony Yogane, who can play on both wings, was signed when he arrived from Brentford, but maybe the club knew Alli was on the way out long before it became public.

With Mitchell's contract up in the summer and Yogane being yet another borrowed player, an up-and-coming left-winger signing permanently would be a great addition in the long run.

Jake Richards deal could be cherry on cake

Finally, in a dream world, we'd get an announcement five minutes before the deadline that our prodigious academy product Jake Richards had finally put pen to paper on a long-term professional contract with the club.

The 17-year-old has enjoyed an increasingly-important role in City's side of late and his development would be helped no end by playing regular men's football instead of sitting in a Premier League academy gathering dust.

The evidence is stacking up for this, and it feels like a no-brainer, but money talks, and you assume those up the pyramid would be both willing and able to offer him much, much more than his boyhood club can.

Perhaps some of the Alli money can be invested in yet another improved contract offer to Richards as one final play to get him to sign?

The clock is ticking, and the cogs are definitely turning behind the scenes at St James Park.

An extra body in defence would be desirable, especially over the next few weeks while the likes of Pierce Sweeney and Johnly Yfeko get back to fitness and a quality striker signed on a permanent deal is, without doubt, the No.1 objective.

It would be great to bring in a youthful, exciting, left-sided winger permanently in case Mitchell leaves in the summer and if Richards agrees to fresh terms, that would be the cherry on the cake of what would, despite everything, have been a decent transfer window for the Grecians.