Notts County will want to avoid £150k deal that saw contract cancelled when they shop in January | OneFootball

Izale McLeod joined the Magpies for a reported fee of £150,000, only to have his contract cancelled just one season in.

Notts County will be one of several clubs on the hunt for a striker in the January transfer window, with the Magpies looking to add a bit of extra firepower to re-vitalise their bid for promotion to League One.

Stuart Maynard’s side were linked with a loan move for young striker Joe Gardner from city rivals Nottingham Forest earlier in the week. According to Football Insider, they also face competition from Doncaster Rovers, Harrogate Town and Morecambe for the 19-year-old, who has been nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for November.

However, Notts must be careful to avoid repeating the deal that saw them sign Izale McLeod for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £150,000 (according to The Mirror) back in 2015.

They bought McLeod after he enjoyed a particularly successful season for Crawley Town in League One but the striker simply never looked like hitting the same heights in a black and white shirt.

McLeod was a hugely disappointing signing for Notts

McLeod made the move to Nottingham in the summer of 2015, just months after an agonising final-day defeat at Gillingham had consigned the Magpies to relegation from League One.

The Birmingham-born frontman had netted 19 league goals for a Crawley side who had also been relegated the previous season, with the Red Devils finishing below Notts on goal difference.

McLeod joined as part of a huge summer overhaul at Meadow Lane, which saw 20 new signings arrive on permanent deals, many of them foreign players who had never played in the Football League before.

They were led by former Red Bull Salzburg and 1860 Munich boss Ricardo Moniz, until the Dutchman was sacked just after Christmas, with Notts having won just two league games since October.

The Magpies eventually laboured to a 17th-placed finish in League Two, having been through no less than three managers.

While this obviously provided difficult circumstances for a player to thrive in, McLeod simply never looked like recreating the form that had seen him be such a threat for Crawley the previous season.

He arrived with huge expectations attached to him but looked short of confidence during his time in Nottingham.

The 30-year-old scored nine times in 37 league games, a disappointing return given the fee the club had parted with to secure his services.

He initially signed a three-year deal at Meadow Lane, but had his contract cancelled at the end of his first season (2015/16).

His spell at the club was symptomatic of a period of time when Notts made several similar costly misjudgements as a club, which resulted in them being issued a winding-up petition 12 months down the line.

Notts must avoid a repeat of the McLeod deal this January

Notts simply must avoid a repeat of the McLeod deal during their hunt for a striker in January.

Extra firepower will surely be towards the top of the Magpies shopping list, as recent games have highlighted a lack of depth at the top of the pitch, with only Alassana Jatta and David McGoldrick genuine viable options.

While both have had outstanding seasons so far, Jatta is likely to miss more games through international call-ups, while McGoldrick is now 37 and can’t play week in, week out anymore.

However, Notts must ensure that they remain their usual calculated, measured selves when shopping in the January window.

They can’t allow their need for a striker to cloud their judgement in the market and must only part with a significant fee if somebody comes available who they are extremely confident will help propel them into League One.

Notts’ spending has become far more methodical under the Reedtz brothers than it was under either of their previous owners, Alan Hardy and Ray Trew.

The days of the Magpies being brash with their spending are long gone and fees only tend to be dished out now on players who the board believe have a big future ahead of them.

Nevertheless, it’s imperative Notts avoid a deal of a similar ilk to McLeod’s this winter, or they could be left with a disappointing result once again.