AFTER causing quite a stir with his last career move, Wanderers new boy Will Forrester may be glad to have slipped under the radar this time around.
Signing a three-year deal at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, the 22-year-old’s move from Port Vale was downright straightforward compared with some of the deals which have come and gone in these parts this summer.
Wanderers paid a six-figure fee for the centre-back, who becomes Ian Evatt’s fifth signing of the summer, joining Nathan Baxter, Joel Coleman, Josh Dacres-Cogley and Dan Nlundulu.
And compared to his last move – between Stoke City, the club he had represented from the age of six – and their bitter Potteries rivals Port Vale, this one looked to be smooth sailing.
Deals between Vale and their local enemies Stoke are rare, especially in recent years. But Forrester created a wave of headlines when he turned down the chance to stay in the Championship to pursue the prospect of regular football.
John Lumsdon was the last player to have traded red-and-white stripes for Vale white, and that was on loan, back in 1978. Since then, no other player has crossed the divide.
The Alsager-born defender had made a dream debut at Stoke, scoring against Bournemouth on the final day of the 2020/21 season but after struggling with an ankle injury he was moved out to Mansfield Town in League Two to get some more experience.
He played three more times the following season, including a 3-1 win against West Brom where he marked ex-England striker Andy Carroll and played alongside Phil Jagielka and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Speaking after the game his manager Michael O’Neill said: “Andy (Carroll) is as good as you get for testing you. I thought he was terrific in all honesty. It was his third game in a week. He’s at the latter stages of his career but I thought his attitude to the game was terrific and we had to deal with that; Forrester, Jagielka, Harwood-Bellis.
“You could see early on he was playing more central but as the game developed he started to pull onto Will a little bit. It was only Will’s second game. It was important to compete but also important to defend the second ball and between the three of them they did that exceptionally well.
“Will came through it brilliantly, really good. You could see Jags talking him through the game.
“I thought where he was good was on the ball. He showed really good composure on the ball. You look at some of his passes at times and he’ll want to improve on that but his application was excellent and I’m really pleased for him because he’s had to be patient.
“He’s been a little bit unlucky. He went out on loan earlier in the season, got injured and he’s had to be patient now to get this opportunity. He’s a young player with a lot of potential and he has to make sure this is a step in the right direction for him.”
Facing limited opportunities at Stoke, Forrester turned down a contract offer to sign at Vale Park in July 2022.
Then manager Darrell Clarke proclaimed: “He’s been at Stoke a very long time and he’s ready for a new challenge where he can continue to develop as a player and get more regular first team football.
“He’s got all the attributes of a top centre half so I’m really really delighted to bring him to the club and I’m looking forward to helping to kick on his career.”
Forrester had worked his way through the youth system at Stoke and been a regular in the club’s development squad for three seasons.
His integration to the first team after his move was steady, starts coming in twos and threes, but by the turn of the year his form had plateaued and Forrester found himself having started just two of 14 games in all competitions.
He voiced disappointment with his own performances but, by January, had taken the Vale supporters’ player of the month award and was virtually ever-present thereafter.
Making the transition to senior football was a big step, the defender admitted.
“It is massive, the volume of games but also the way the games are played,” he told the Stoke Sentinel.
“It is a lot more physical. At under-23s level, it is keeping the ball on the floor and playing out from the back whereas in this league teams play differently. Some teams might be more direct and, against bigger, more physical strikers, you have to deal with the aerial threat. So, it is a lot different but I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
“I think I have gradually got better every game. I went through a phase when I was coming off the bench but I think now, with having a run of games, I have managed to get back into my rhythm.
“I think I am my own harshest critic at times. Sometimes that is probably a bad thing but I will analyse my performances after every game and look at where I can improve, but also look at the good stuff as well. I think it’s important to not just find the negatives all the time.
“I am pretty honest with myself about my performances so I am glad I have picked up a little. But I think there is still a lot more to come.”
Vale had invested in Forrester as a long-term prospect, and while the youngster did take a few months to find his feet whilst playing regular senior football, he finished as a prominent member of the side.
A winning goal against Exeter City gave his side an important three points in February and a man of the match performance on the penultimate weekend of the season in a 2-0 win against Bristol Rovers virtually guaranteed safety.
Forrester played most of his football last season on the right side of a back three but also played as a full-back in his early days at Stoke.
He joins Wanderers potentially as a direct rival for Gethin Jones’s place in the side – but with Evatt also mindful of the injury problems his side suffered at the tail end of last season in that position.
Midfielder MJ Williams was drafted in at the end of last season when Eoin Toal, Jones and Ricardo Santos were all struck down at various stages of the run-in.
Along with the returning Jack Iredale and George Johnston, Evatt now looks well-set for centre-backs for the season ahead.
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