Crawley Town have announced the deadline day signing of Woking midfielder Jack Roles on an undisclosed fee.
The ex-Tottenham Hotspur academy player pens a contract with the League Two side that will keep him at the Broadfield Stadium until the end of the 2023/24 season.
Reds have made national news for all the wrong reasons lately, one of those being the revolving door of managers, but it is Scott Lindsey at the helm as of earlier this month.
He will be hoping the recruitment of Roles can play to their advantage in a fight to avoid the drop back down to the National League.
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Career so far
Roles' started out his youth career with Premier League giants Spurs in 2015, and spent four years in the academy before the agreement of a contract extension.
Across U18 and U21 level, he managed 74 appearances for the Premier League 2 side, scoring 32 times, not forgetting his 12 assists either.
The 23-year-old never made a competitive appearance for the first team, albeit he did come off the bench in a pre-season friendly against Juventus.
Unable to break into the squad, he went out on loan to Cambridge United in August 2019, and saw an immediate start come his way, making his debut against Scunthorpe United in a 3-2 win.
The exciting attacking player didn't have to wait too long for his first senior goal either, as he opened the scoring against Mansfield Town the following month.
A sensational strike against Macclesfield was nominated for League Two Goal of the Month, and although he didn't get top spot, he took away the Player of the Month accolade instead.
Overall, Roles counted five goals across 25 appearances while with the U's.
Two less successful loan spells at Burton Albion and Stevenage allowed the versatile youngster to gain more vital experience of the Football League.
Roles then departed North London for rivals Crystal Palace, whom he spent less than a year with.
After the Eagles, he moved on to National League club Woking towards the end of the 2021/22. Making his debut off the bench during a 2-2 draw with Altrincham, he would go on to start four of the remaining games and net his first goal in Cards colours during final day defeat to Eastleigh.
Penning a new contract for the current season, Roles made 15 appearances before his deadline day move to Crawley Town.
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Reaction
On getting the deal over the line, new signing Roles spoke to Reds media. He said, "I am so happy and so grateful to everyone at Crawley for taking me on this opportunity.
"I found out a couple of weeks ago, and straight away, I thought if this could happen for me, it would be great. I have spoken to some of the lads I have known at Tottenham, and they have said what a great club it is, so I am looking forward to it."
Manager Scott Lindsey also shared his thoughts on the recruitment of the Cards midfielder: “We are incredibly excited to have Jack on board. He has a great pedigree coming from great academies with Spurs and Crystal Palace.
"He also has great experience in the Football League. He’s of a good age and is someone I am looking forward to coaching and trying to make a great player of.”