Plymouth Argyle must regret not cashing in on Nottingham Forest player interest - they could have banked £3.5m | OneFootball

Luke Jephcott was in red-hot form as interest gathered in January 2021, and the Greens must regret not making the most of it

Plymouth Argyle have had their fair share of academy graduates go on to flourish in the EFL after coming up through the ranks at Home Park.

Whether it is Michael Cooper or Adam Randell in the present day, or the likes of Jack Stephens, Joe Mason and Dan Gosling of the previous generation, the West Country has produced plenty of talent that has gone on to thrive in the top four tiers.

There was a point in time where Luke Jephcott looked likely to be joining that list as a player who reached stratospheric heights after breaking through at the Theatre of Greens, with interest from a number of clubs higher up the football pyramid.

The Pilgrims held firm though, but before too long the frontman was plummeting back down the divisions, leaving Argyle regretting not cashing in when they had the chance.

Luke Jephcott’s Plymouth Argyle trajectory leads to Championship interest

Jephcott started out as any academy star does; siphoning minutes here and there as a late substitute during his teenage years, and waiting in the wings while the main strikers got top billing.

It was a loan to Truro City in the 19/20 season that helped transform his career from bit-part player to first-team certainty at Home Park, with a run of eight goals in 18 games for the Cornish side proving his prowess in front of goal, with boss Ryan Lowe evidently impressed by his performances at Treyew Road.

Those displays in the seventh tier were evidence enough for the Argyle boss to throw the teenager straight into the mix in League Two just days after his return to the Greens, and he repaid that faith in spades with a brace against Scunthorpe United.

Looking back, both goals were very much Jephcott specials; a first-time effort from a ball into the penalty area for the first, before snaffling up the rebound after the goalkeeper spilled Danny Mayor’s effort. Pure poacher produce.

Another brace the week after against Carlisle must have left Lowe revelling in his good fortune to stumble across a clinical marksman right in front of his nose, with the frugal Pilgrims not having to spend a penny to acquire his services.

Further goals against Crewe, Crawley and Grimsby followed as the Greens earned promotion in the Covid-curtailed season, before things really got going in the division above during the following campaign.

Everyone knew Jephcott could find the back of the net, but no one was expecting him to adapt to life in the EFL so quickly, with a run of 12 goals in 15 matches between October and January making him one of the most clinical marksman in the land, as he sniffed out opportunities at will, and made the most of the chances coming his way.

The striker seemed to operate best on his instincts, with a single touch often all that was needed to react to a ball coming his way in the penalty area, while his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play also showed maturity beyond his years.

With 14 goals by January 2021, it was no surprise that clubs were taking an interest in Argyle’s Wales youth international, with Nottingham Forest said to be one of the clubs casting an eye over him at the time.

Plymouth Argyle must regret Ryan Lowe hands off warning on Luke Jephcott

With a potential promotion push on their hands in the third tier just months after stepping up from League Two, Argyle understandably wanted to keep hold of their main marksman throughout the January transfer window, with the sniff of the Championship too greater reward to give up.

Lowe [pictured] was adamant that his forward wasn’t for sale during the winter, with the Pilgrims boss bullish in his stance when quizzed about Jephcott’s availability during the month.

“Anyone who rings up (about Jephcott), the phone will be getting put down because we don’t need to sell,” he told Plymouth Live at the time.

“If they want to ring at the end of the season after he has scored 25 goals it will probably cost them £3.5 million.

“It’s whether anyone has got £3.5m at the moment. Honestly, we are not even looking into that, we haven’t even thought of it.”

That 25-goal prediction wouldn’t have seemed so far-fetched when Lowe made the comment near the turn of the year, and few would have predicted that Jephcott’s final goal of the season would come on February 6, with a 19-game barren streak bringing an anticlimactic end to the season for both player and club.

While four goals in four games looked to have reignited his hunger in front of goal during the next campaign, Jephcott’s impact had begun to wane, with his ten league goals coming in fits and spurts across the season.

Within 12 months, a player who had seemed almost unplayable in the third tier had started playing second fiddle to the likes of Ryan Hardie and Niall Ennis, as he could barely buy a goal for love nor money.

Once that goalscoring touch had eluded him, Jephcott almost found it impossible to prove himself in the squad, with the focus being on players who could stretch a game with their pace and trickery, while the academy graduate’s game plan solely focused on penalty area predatory.

Just 18 months after Lowe was bandying round seven-figure fees for the young striker and Championship moves were being touted, Steven Schumacher deemed the player surplus to requirements at Home Park, as he was loaned out to League Two Swindon Town for the 22/23 campaign.

A move to St Johnstone followed as the Pilgrims earned promotion to the Championship in his absence, before ending up back in League Two with Newport County just six months later.

Earlier this year, Jephcott returned to where it all really began for him, Truro City, with a loan deal from Rodney Parade agreed until the end of the season.

The Cornish confines have worked wonders in giving the striker confidence in his abilities once before, and there will be plenty of hope that that can be the case once again this time around.

While Argyle may rue not cashing in on their top talent, Jephcott himself will be wondering where it all went wrong over the past few years. But if he gets back to playing with a smile on his face there is no reason why he can’t get back to being the poacher-in-chief Argyle fans heralded during his time at Home Park.