The Vale squad for the 2026/27 season is taking shape, and with football being football there will, of course, be some late twists and turns before the transfer window finally slams shut. An absolute banging new arrival could emerge from nowhere, an unexpected departure could leave us staring at our phones in disbelief. Every summer brings its own stories and dramas: the hero sold at the eleventh hour, the youngster shipped out in search of minutes, the return of a familiar face looking for redemption after a previous spell that left many unconvinced.

This constant ebb and flow of players is part of football’s enduring fascination. Every transfer brings with it possibilities and uncertainties, dreams and doubts, heart flutters and heart breaks. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the arrivals, new contracts, and departures so far as we head into August.

Love is in the air…

Jackson Smith. Keeper. Smith’s career to date reads less like a footballing journey and more like an exhaustive tour of the English pyramid. Kettering Town, Frickley Athletic, Walsall, Grimsby Town and Rochdale all feature on the itinerary, courtesy of a succession of loans from his respective parent clubs, Wolves and Barnsley. It’s an interesting CV.

I like a well-travelled keeper, though. They’re a bit like drummers: nobody really trusts one until they’ve been in at least five different bands. Outfield players can get away with spending a decade in the same place and be considered dependable. Goalkeepers need a few strange stops along the way, a handful of temporary postcodes and stories about away grounds nobody else has heard of. He’s put the miles in. Hopefully Vale Park is the right destination.

Mason Terry. Another keeper, joining us on a season-long loan from West Ham. Previous stops include Braintree Town and Hornchurch, which makes him as Essex as a TOWIE box set and a Ford Capri parked outside a snooker club.

There is, however, a problem. His name is back to front. “Mason Terry” sounds like the sort of bloke who sells artisan coffee in Shoreditch. “Terry Mason”, on the other hand, sounds like a man who could re-point your brickwork, fix your conservatory and save a penalty with a cigarette tucked behind his ear, all before teatime. I shall therefore, from this point on, be referring to him exclusively as Terry Mason, “Tel” to his mates, which is infinitely more Essex.

Jasper Moon. Centre-half. Arrives after being released by Burton Albion. He doesn’t sound like a centre-half, does he? He sounds like a character from a fantasy novel or a forgotten member of some sprawling 1970s psychedelic collective. The sort of bloke who old prog-rock enthusiasts insist was briefly in Gong during their imperial phase. “Jasper Moon on bongos, mate. The 1974 line-up. Mind-blowing. Never bettered.”

You don’t picture him heading away a long throw at Gillingham. You picture him living in a yurt somewhere in Herefordshire, communicating exclusively through wind chimes whilst waiting for humanity’s inevitable transition into fifth-dimension unity consciousness, funding his lifestyle by selling activated bong-juice from a lay-by on the A49. The name suggests a man who should be crafting concept albums about astral projection and Wi-Fi anxiety, not marking a six-foot-four centre-forward at a set piece.

Football remains gloriously absurd. A man named Jasper Moon is expected to spend his afternoons colliding with centre-forwards, organising defensive lines and taking the occasional elbow to the face. Which is probably just as well. Modern football needs a few names that still sound as though they have wandered in from another dimension.

Hopefully he can defend corners.

Aaron McGowan. A defender capable of operating at either centre-half or right-back. One of Brady’s old allies from Northampton. He arrived this afternoon, a practical solution to an obvious problem. We needed another defender, and here he is. He ticks the obvious boxes: experienced, versatile and has existing connections with the Gaffer.

I’m not dancing in the streets, but neither am I dismissive of someone who will, no doubt, prove a dependable presence. The footballing equivalent of buying a new kettle.

Kyle Dempsey. Arrives after leaving Bolton at the end of last season. He brings with him plenty of experience, a reputation for being fiercely competitive and a knack for chipping in with important goals from midfield. On the pitch, he is combative, hard-working and rarely inclined to take a backward step when a game becomes a battle.

Of course, Dempsey also arrives carrying baggage. In 2023, he received a suspended prison sentence after what a judge described as a “ruthless, merciless and ugly attack” on a club doorman. It is an incident that will inevitably follow him wherever he plays, and one that sits uncomfortably alongside any assessment of his footballing qualities.

From a purely footballing perspective, however, we have signed a midfielder who should add a degree of steel to the engine room. He is unlikely to be outmuscled, is not afraid of the physical side of the game and has enough quality to contribute further forward when opportunities arise. If he can channel that aggression into the right places, he could prove to be a valuable addition.

For now, I am prepared to view the off-field incident as a one-off and judge him on what he produces in a Vale shirt. That said, while opposition midfielders may soon discover they have little time or space when Dempsey is nearby, the bouncers of Burslem might be advised to keep their wits about them at all times.

Matthew Craig. Midfielder. Signed on a three-year deal after his contract with Tottenham Hotspur expired. Loan spells with Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley and Mansfield Town. Right now, I suspect he’ll begin the season on the bench. It’s difficult to see him walking straight into a midfield with Byers, Garrity, Dempsey, Walters, and Croasdale available. Then again, as we know all too well, Byers and Garrity do spend too much time in the treatment room. Opportunities have a habit of presenting themselves sooner rather than later.

Mo Faal. Striker. On loan again from Wrexham. And if your immediate reaction was a weary sigh accompanied by the words “haven’t we done this already?”, you probably weren’t alone. The announcement has certainly raised a few eyebrows. Last season, watching Faal often felt like witnessing a man trying to assemble flat-pack furniture with no instructions, three missing screws and mounting panic setting in. All arms and legs, first touch optional, his boots a size too big and his brain a second too slow.

Yet here he is again.

And if we’re being fair, because we should occasionally be fair, there were moments. Fleeting moments, admittedly, but moments nonetheless. Glimpses of something beneath the chaos. A clever run here, a flash of skill there, the occasional reminder that there is, in fact, a footballer hidden somewhere inside all that gangly confusion.

And that’s the gamble we are taking. Maybe, with a decent pre-season and a little more confidence, those rare flashes might become something more substantial. It’s a risk, certainly. But whether it’s blind optimism or genuine foresight, Brady has decided that Faal’s story at Vale Park hasn’t finished.

Onel Hernández. Signed on a one-year deal, and that’s extremely good news. For us and the Oatcake shops of Burslem. I’ll admit I wasn’t convinced it would happen, but he’s definitely reported for pre-season in considerably better shape than he did in January, with a million and one reels on his socials to prove it.

The ability has never been in question. He’s got the tricks, the experience and the know-how. Un jugador con clase y elegancia, as they might say in Cuba. On his day, he can be an absolute joy to watch. What we need now is consistency rather than the occasional 20-minute cameo. Personally, I don’t mind if he can only give us 60 minutes a game, as long as he can produce that level week in, week out. And at 33, that’s hardly an unreasonable demand.

I’m excited. A lo cubano.

Oliver Lynch. Striker. Season-long loan from Luton. The wonderkid. He is everything, and so much more. The One. Player of the Season. I know almost nothing about him, which is precisely why I’m certain. Reality has no place in the process.

He’s “buzzing to be here”. I mean, what more could we possibly want?

Oliver Lynch. Remember the name.

Max Watters. Striker. Arrives at Vale Park at 27 years of age and with a suitcase that has already seen the inside of 13 other dressing rooms. Vale are now club number 14 in a career that has been defined as much by movement as momentum.

There is, however, one chapter that stands apart from the rest. During the first half of the 2020-21 season, Watters caught fire at Crawley Town, rattling in 16 goals in just 19 games before moving to Cardiff City. Yet, viewed against the wider backdrop of his career, it remains an outlier rather than a trend, a brief glimpse of something that has, so far, proved frustratingly elusive.

We’ve handed him a two-year deal, a sign that Brady certainly has belief in the striker’s potential. Now comes the hard part. At 27, prospects become expectations, and promise must eventually become production. For Watters, Vale Park is not just another stop on the journey. It feels like a place where things need to start happening.

Ben Garrity. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the summer so far is Ben Garrity signing a new two-year deal. If I’m honest, I never thought it would happen. Equally honestly, I wouldn’t have been particularly upset had the club decided against offering new terms, or if Garrity himself had felt it was an opportunity for a fresh start elsewhere. The time did seem right.

At his best, he remains a unique and influential player. Invaluable. The problem is that injuries have become impossible to ignore. What was once a run of bad luck is now a pattern. There is a nagging doubt whenever his name appears on the teamsheet: not about what he will contribute, but how long he will be available to contribute it. It often feels as though we get half a season from him before the inevitable enters the narrative.

That is what makes this new deal so fascinating. Nobody is questioning Garrity’s quality. The question is whether his body can still be relied upon to deliver enough football across the next two years to justify the club’s faith. The commitment is understandable. If his body cooperates, it could look inspired. If it doesn’t, we’ll all be having the same conversation in eighteen months’ time.

Do we need time apart?

Jack Shorrock. Out on loan to Sligo Rovers until the end of the Irish season. I had no idea the football season in Ireland ran different to ours, I had to google it after seeing the news about Jack.

Not too long ago, he looked like one of the brightest prospects to emerge from Vale’s academy ranks, a young player with genuine promise, becoming an almost permanent fixture in the match day squad during our last promotion from League Two. Yet much of last season was spent away from Vale on loan, and this latest move suggests that Jon Brady does not currently see him as part of his immediate plans heading into the new campaign.

Of course, Shorrock is still only 19, an age at which many players are only beginning to find their feet in senior football. A successful little spell in Ireland could yet provide the experience and consistency he needs to reignite his progress. But football waits for no one, and with every loan move the question becomes a little louder: is Jack Shorrock’s future really at Port Vale, or is he destined to continue his development elsewhere before making a permanent break from the club?

It’s over, we’re finished…

Jordan Shipley. Gone. His contract terminated by mutual consent after what can only really be described as a disastrous season at Vale Park. It’s almost impossible to reconcile the player we saw with the fact that, not all that long ago, he was turning out regularly in the Championship for Coventry City. Football has a habit of humbling people, but Shipley’s decline felt particularly stark.

Harsh as it sounds, I’m struggling to find a single redeeming feature from his time at Vale. There were no memorable contributions (maybe there was a pass that led to a goal, in a cup game?), no sustained run of form, no glimpses of the player he once was. It never worked, and perhaps more importantly, it never looked like it was going to work. From almost the moment he pulled on a Vale shirt, there was a nagging feeling that the move wasn’t going to be a success.

Football is full of stories of reinvention, of players who appear finished only to find the right environment and rediscover themselves. Shipley will hope Cheltenham Town can provide exactly that. For his sake, and perhaps for the sake of those who remember the player he once was, you’d like to think there’s still something left to salvage. But from a Vale perspective, this feels like another one of those signings that belongs in the category of complete and utter misfires.

Ruari Paton. Gone. Joined St Johnstone for an undisclosed fee. His Vale career always felt like a puzzle nobody could quite solve. He failed to convince either Darren Moore or Jon Brady, and despite occasional flashes, never looked like a striker capable of troubling double figures over the course of a season. Yet he remained a curious figure among the fanbase.

For all the evidence suggesting he wasn’t quite at the level required, there were plenty who continued to believe there was a player in there waiting to emerge. Every clever touch, every little moment of quality seemed to renew the hope that the breakthrough was just around the corner. It never happened, and personally I could never see it happening. Scottish football feels like a sensible move for him. A change of scenery can sometimes unlock a player, but here there was always a sense that we were waiting for something that never arrived.

Rico Richards. Gone. Southend United have paid an undisclosed fee to take him to the National League, ending a Vale career that promised very little and delivered even less. Spent last season out on loan at Walsall, where he struggled for minutes in a team built from mediocrity. Far too often he would simply disappear from games entirely whilst at Vale, drifting on the fringes while those around him carried the burden. In truth, he leaves behind more frustration than regret.

Ps…

Marko Marosi should be gone soon, and like Rico it’s probably going to be the National League that comes calling.

It also looks increasingly likely that Jayden Stockley will be leaving, “he’s had one or two offers” explained Brady in his interview with Bowers last night. It’s a shame really, because while his days of playing every week may be behind him, I still think he could be a huge asset at League Two level. Used intelligently, coming off the bench for the final 20 or 25 minutes, he offers physicality, experience and a genuine aerial threat that few defenders would relish facing when legs are tiring. Yet towards the end of last season I couldn’t shake the feeling that Jon Brady wasn’t entirely sold on him, and sometimes those relationships only tend to move in one direction.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Rhys Walters move on to supposedly ‘bigger’ things. Of course, football has taught us many times that bigger isn’t always better. More than most players, Walters remains something of an enigma to me. The talent is sort of there, and every so often we catch a little glimpse of the player he could become, but I’ve never quite felt that he’s consistently reached the level his ability suggests should be possible. Perhaps that breakthrough is still to come, whether at Vale or elsewhere.

The bigger question, though, concerns the top end of the pitch. Looking through the squad, are we still missing that striker you can confidently pencil in for double figures over the course of a season? Every successful side needs one. I’m backing Oli Lynch, but purely on a ridiculous whim. It’s difficult to say with certainty where a reliable fifteen-goal return will come from. As ever, football has a way of answering these questions for us.

Time will tell.