Notts County: Repeating Macaulay Langstaff trick should be Reedtz priority | OneFootball

Notts badly need another striker through the door in January and hopefully, the Reedtz brothers can unearth another gem.

Notts County owners Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz must have their sights set on attempting to repeat their Macaulay Langstaff deal in January.

Notts paid Gateshead a fee that was believed to be in the region of £50,000 for Langstaff’s services two and a half years ago, and the forward went on to score 71 goals in 97 games across all competitions, before being sold to Millwall this summer for a profit believed to be around £650,000.

As the January transfer window creeps ever closer, the one position where Stuart Maynard’s side are badly in need of reinforcements is up front.

While it’s highly unlikely Notts will ever be able to replicate a signing to the same degree of success as Langstaff, dipping into the non-league market could again be a viable option for them to find their next frontman.

Notts need a striker to bolster their squad

Across the rest of the squad, there is little reason to panic. Defensively, Lucas Ness’ outstanding performance on Saturday suggested he will provide extremely capable cover for (or even replace someone from) the back three of Lewis Macari, Matty Platt, and Jacob Bedeau that has rightly received so many plaudits from fans so far.

Kellan Gordon has struggled for form lately on the right-hand side, but that should be remedied by the return of Jodi Jones, expected to be over the New Year period.

And despite being badly stretched at the minute, Notts' midfield depth should also return to its previous strength, with Conor Grant, Scott Robertson, Curtis Edwards, and Dan Crowley all hopefully returning between now and January.

That just leaves Notts’ attack.

Alassana Jatta and David McGoldrick have both been excellent, but with Jatta now in the international picture with the Gambia and McGoldrick incapable of playing every game anymore, another option is surely necessary if they are to maintain a genuine promotion push.

The answer doesn’t look like coming from within the club either. Cedwyn Scott has struggled for form at Football League level, while Jevani Brown has seriously underwhelmed. Neither look capable of making a prolonged impact on Notts’ season.

Ultimately, with Notts improving so much defensively (they’ve conceded just 15 goals from 17 league games, having conceded 29 at this stage last season), they don’t need to replicate last year’s total of 89 goals scored.

However, Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Newport was a prime example of why the Magpies could do with just a little more firepower and quality in front of goal, to help provide that cutting edge in games that they dominate.

Notts could look to repeat Langstaff trick

It’s unlikely Notts would be able to secure the services of a proven Football League striker without paying serious money, which hasn’t tended to be the Reedtz brothers’ style so far.

A proven goalscorer at this level would want to start the vast majority of games, something which Notts aren’t really in a position to offer given the success of Jatta and McGoldrick. The only way you can likely get around that is by paying somebody big wages, which in itself comes with a huge amount of risk.

Notts need someone who is capable of coming in and hitting the ground running, and with that in mind, a Premier League loanee who hasn’t played much senior football may not tick the box either.

The Magpies need someone who is capable of coming in and hitting the ground running. They don’t have to be a prolific goalscorer, but they need to be capable of contributing on a fairly regular basis.

Notts could look to the non-league scene once again for their next striking option, attempting to repeat the trick that served them so well in the Langstaff deal.

The issue of money is likely to be much less prevalent when offering someone to step up to Football League level for the first time.

Could the likes of York City’s Ollie Pearce or Altrincham’s Regan Linney become the next Langstaff?

Both are likely in their prime years at the minute and still on the right side of 30. They are also both goalscorers in their own right.

Pearce has stepped up to National League level with the Minstermen and has 12 goals to his name from 20 games, having scored a ridiculous 43 in 46 for Worthing in the sixth tier last season.

Meanwhile, Linney, who is perhaps more of a target-man style striker than a poacher, looks on course for a superb season, with 11 league goals already, having finished on 14 from 32 games in 2023/24.

Whisper it quietly, but even a return move for Kairo Mitchell may not be a bad option, with the striker’s nine league goals setting him as the top scorer for Jim McNulty’s Rochdale.

However Notts choose to approach this issue, it’s extremely important it gets solved. It could end up being a make-or-break decision in their season.