Luke Williams admitted that is “like a dream” to have a player of David McGoldrick’s quality at Notts County as he analysed all the signings the club have made so far this summer.
The Magpies are preparing for their return to the Football League after gaining promotion from the National League via the play-offs in May. The squad have returned for pre-season training and amongst them are some new faces as Williams has pushed to add even more quality to a team that were dominant over most teams in the fifth tier last term.
Amongst the new arrivals at the club is McGoldrick, who shocked many in returning to his boyhood club after a 25-goal season for Derby County in League One last season, which would have attracted interest from higher up.
The 35-year-old always had his heart set on a return to Meadow Lane however, and Williams is delighted to have a player of his ilk on board.
The Notts manager said: “I think it’s an incredible signing, he’s a guy with incredible quality, he’s got an aura about him that is great for the players and staff around him and we’re really excited to integrate him in with what we’re trying to do.
“I look forward to seeing the quality that he possesses and what that can provide for us. We have a lot of attacking positions in our preferred system, the wide players are involved in many actions to create and score goals, our midfielders were very high last season in terms of goal-creation numbers and we have strikers with very good goal-scoring records.
“There are a number of positions that David [McGoldrick] can play with the quality that he has and we have a way of playing that will help him to show what he is best at. To have a player of that quality that is so motivated to play for the club and has such a pre-existing feeling towards the club is like a dream.”
County have also added Dan Crowley, Will Randall and Aidan Stone so far this summer who Williams has identified as players that can add to the team next season and bolster his options in certain positions of need.
He added: “I’ve known about [Dan Crowley] for some time now and I’ve been in two different clubs where we were close to signing him. He has brilliant quality with the ball and he can play in different positions as well now we need to help him understand how we want to play and add that to his individual skillset.
“When I was at Swindon Town, Will [Randall] was coming through the youth team there and was a very exciting player. He made his first team debut against a strong Preston team, a team of men and he was 18 at the time. He has picked up a lot of league experience since then and has developed physically and mentally, so we’re really happy he is with us and he’ll add to us for sure.
“We have Aidan [Stone] as well, who looks to be an exciting prospect and we’re very happy with the goalkeeping department. Having Sam [Slocombe] with us again is amazing because he just had a brilliant season and his personality will help the whole group.”
