With most released and retained lists published by clubs across the EFL, the picture of the transfer market is becoming clearer for Bristol Rovers and their rivals ahead of what promises to be a busy summer in BS7.
After releasing 13 players and losing several influential loan signings after their promotion to League One, the Gas need to rebuild around the strong core assembled by Joey Barton and no position is off limits for the Gas when the window opens next month.
That includes striker, which is not as pressing a priority as other areas of the pitch, but it will doubtless be an area of focus for Barton as he shapes his squad for the challenge of League One.
Aaron Collins has flourished into a well-rounded number nine for the Gas, finishing last season with 18 goals and he will hope to kick on again, but an attacking addition or two could enable the manager to use the 25-year-old as a second striker or wide forward.
Ryan Loft will hope to take a step forward, too, and pre-season represents a big opportunity to impress the manager. Harvey Saunders, meanwhile, is another who will want more minutes next season. Harvey Greenslade will hope to catch the eye as a first-year professional.
So Barton does have a range of options, but he will also be eager to upgrade as the Gas step up in level and tackle the test of the third tier. Here are some of the options he could consider...
James Norwood
Norwood, aged 31, is available on a free transfer after being released by Ipswich Town, and he is one of the more proven strikers on the market this summer with more than 180 goals across 500 appearances at various different levels.
Norwood has had success in the South West before, scoring 50 goals for Forest Green Rovers over four seasons in the Conference, earning a move to Tranmere Rovers, where he took his game to another level, scoring 20 in the season they returned to the EFL and 29 the season after in League Two.
The Tractor Boys came calling for the striker and he spent three seasons at Portman Road, scoring 11 times in his first season. Two tricky years have followed, scoring nine and six respectively as Ipswich fell short of expectations in League One.
Managerial instability is sure to have held him back, being told at one point to train with the under-23s and he had no future at the club, only to be reintegrated a few weeks later. Ipswich has not been a happy place for strikers of late, in truth, with Joe Pigott scoring just twice last season after netting 20 for AFC Wimbledon the year before.
A fresh start ought to do Norwood the world of good.
John Marquis
Like Ipswich, Portsmouth is no easy stage for a striker either, as John Marquis learned in recent years. He left Pompey midway through last season to join Lincoln City on a short-term deal.
After five goals in 20 games for the Imps, the 30-year-old was released and is available on a free, and although he was maligned at Fratton Park he has a strong record over the course of his career.
He found form at Doncaster Rovers in 2016/17, scoring 26 League Two goals to win promotion and he followed that with 14 and 21 respectively in the following League One campaigns.
Pompey snapped him up and eight goals in his first season was underwhelming, but he followed it with 16 in 2020/21. With four on the board midway through last season, Danny Cowley chose to move him on to Sincil Bank, where he took his total for the season to nine goals.
Suitors will hope that is a blip rather than the beginning of a downward trend for a player who has scored more than 100 goals in all competitions in the past six seasons.
Connor Wickham
There is a sense of untapped potential when it comes to Connor Wickham, with injuries robbing a promising career of momentum.
He has not played an awful lot or a 29-year-old, with 234 career league appearances, but he has been a Premier League regular of Sunderland and Crystal Palace in the past, costing several million in transfer fees. He mustered 19 goals across those frustrating, injury-hit stays in the top flight.
The talent is there, making 17 appearances and scoring six goals for England under-21s, but short spells with Preston North End and MK Dons last season did not quite work out.
Whoever signs Wickham will be aware of the risks, but if a manager finds a way to unlock his talent they will have a very good striker in their midst.
Vadaine Oliver
The pattern of play in League One may be more considered and precise than in League Two, but there is always value for an old-school battering ram and Vadaine Oliver is a proven option in that regard.
He netted 31 goals in a pretty poor Gillingham team over the past two years, and the 30-year-old is available for free after leaving Priestfield at the end of his contract.
According to WhoScored, Oliver was League One's 10th best player last season thanks to an average rating of 7.25, very impressive for a team that finished in the bottom four, while he was also a dominant presence in the air, with his 11.4 successful aerial duels per game the most in the decision.
He is a player who could compromise a team's style of play, though, with a pass success percentage of just 41.7 making him League Two's poorest outfield player in that category.
Dom Telford
Barton has stated his preference for recruiting from above the level, but League Two top scorer Dom Telford is a player certainly worthy of consideration.
He has been a Rovers player before, of course, spending a season on loan with the Gas from Stoke City in 2017/18, but he exploded into form last season with Newport County.
The diminutive striker plundered 25 goals in 37 appearances for the Exiles last season to take the golden boot for the fourth tier. However, that was his first season scoring double figures in the league and that may raise some questions about whether he can reproduce similar form.
But Telford is sure to have options. The 25-year-old is out of contract at Rodney Parade and is yet to sign a new deal. He will have plenty of interest as a free agent, but might be considered a wildcard option by third-tier clubs.
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