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Kane Hester signs Elgin City contract extension and manager Gavin Price targets three more signings after selling Matheus Machado to Highland League Rothes


By Craig Christie

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It could be a busy August of transfer activity for Elgin City manager Gavin Price.

Kane Hester. Photo: Bob Crombie
Kane Hester. Photo: Bob Crombie

Star striker Kane Hester has been persuaded to sign a year's contract extension and Price wants three more fresh faces to come in over the next week or two.

With winger Matheus Machado completing a switch to Highland League Rothes, and striker Josh Peters recently joining Buckie Thistle, the City boss has freed up some room in his budget to bring in new recruits.

Price has already brought in left back Greig Young from Raith Rovers and midfielder Tom Findlay from Dundee - both on loan until January - and he is keen to recruit more.

Tom Findlay. Photo: Bob Crombie
Tom Findlay. Photo: Bob Crombie

After Tuesday night's 1-0 SPFL Trust Trophy win over Dundee United B, he said he hopes to have at least one fresh face in for Saturday's League 2 trip to Forfar Athletic.

"I hope there's more business to be done, definitely," he said. "We are looking at getting two or three players in. Hopefully three.

"We will be working on that this week and next.

"Potentially we can get something done for Saturday but it is a frustrating time to get players in.

"Every manager I have spoken to is facing the same dilemma and a lot of us are chasing the same players when they become available.

"It’s difficult because of the geography of Elgin. You see there’s very few central belt players in the squad now and that’s been a factor of the competition from the leagues below us in terms of finance that has almost taken that market away from us.

"We’ve got to be good in our own market now.

"Hopefully Tom and Greig are going to be good additions for us and there will be two or three more to come."

Price was also pleased to see summer signing Chris Antoniazzi get more game time against Dundee United B after a spell out injured.

Gavin Price. Photo: Bob Crombie
Gavin Price. Photo: Bob Crombie

And he spoke about the recent departures of Peters and Machado.

"It’s been good business from our point of view in terms of getting transfer fees in for Josh and Matheus, which has helped us wit the budget for getting players in," Price said.

"I’d like to put it on record that I’ve enjoyed working with both players and they have given us everything while they were here.

"Both understandably felt they wanted first team football and we are not in the business of keeping players who have that frustration.

"It helps them and it probably helps the dressing room here that we freshen the squad up a little bit."

Price admitted he would likely have to explore the loan market to sign more players this month.

"The striker position is one we are trying to bring a player in," he admitted.

"But we are starting to see what Chris Antoniazzi can do now that he’s getting back to fitness."

Hester scored the only goal of the game as City overcame an energetic Dundee United second string.

Shortly after the match it was confirmed that the striker had been signed for another year, keeping him at Borough Briggs until the summer of 2024.

The 27-year-old has scored 61 goals for City in 109 starts and 11 sub appearances since joining from Arbroath in 2019.


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