Exeter City have added to their attacking options by snapping up winger Millenic Alli from National League side AFC Halifax Town. He becomes the second signing of the day after striker Mo Eisa joined in a loan deal from League Two MK Dons.
Alli, who turns 24 on Tuesday, started out with Bury’s youth team before joining South Shields in 2019. He then had spells with Ashton United and Stockport County before joining Halifax in the summer of 2022.
The 23-year-old scored 11 goals in 37 appearances in his first season with the club and has seven in 21 this campaign, although an injury means his last appearance for the Shaymen came on Boxing Day when he scored in a 2-1 win over Altrincham, and he will not immediately be available for selection, but should be back in a couple of weeks.
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Alli, who operates primarily as a left-sided forward, but can also play centrally, joins on undisclosed fee from the National League side, subject to EFL approval. Of his seven this season, four have come from the left, two from the right and once when playing as the sole centre forward, a statistic that excites boss Gary Caldwell.
Caldwell has been scouring the market for a striker to add to his ranks and promised that at least one would arrive before tomorrow’s 11pm transfer deadline. Now, he has that man with Eisa joining from Milton Keynes – with Alli also adding to the attacking ranks.
“It feels great to finally get it done because it’s been going on for some time now,” Eisa said in an interview with the club website. “I am happy to get it done and now I can focus on playing football.
“The interest came about a few weeks ago and my position was that I just wanted to go out and play. I have played here before and it is one of those clubs where some good strikers have been here and I thought I could come and help the team as much as I can.
“I spoke to the gaffer and he told me about how he wants to play and how he sees me in the team. That was a big thing for me and when I spoke to him, I knew straight away that Exeter was a club I wanted to play for.
“I know this league quite well and have played in it many times. I know what it feels like to be in this league and I hope I can use that experience to help the team.
“It was difficult to leave MK because I love everyone there at the club, they were all good to me and I have been there for two and a half years and had some good moments. We nearly got promoted to the Championship in my first season but I got injured at a bad time and if I hadn’t, I think we would have got over the line.
“But for my football career, I need to play games and I know what I can do. I just want to play football and I am thankful to the gaffer here for giving me that chance.”
Eisa, 28, is a proven scorer in the lower leagues after bursting onto the scene with Cheltenham Town after joining them from Dartford in the summer of 2017. He scored 25 goals in 50 appearances in his one and only season at Whaddon Road and that paved the way for a £1.5 million move to Bristol City.
It was a move that did not work out as he made only five appearances at Ashton Gate before Peterborough United paid a club record fee for his services 12 months later. And after 21 goals in 71 appearances for the Posh, he was on the move again, joining MK Dons in another club record deal in July 2021.
After narrowly missing out on promotion in his first year, Eisa was relegated with MK in his second season with the club, but was a regular last season. He started this campaign well with five goals in his first eight games, but he has not scored - barring a penalty for Sudan in a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw with Togo in November - since September 16 and has been in and out of the first team, despite a record of 31 goals in 101 appearances.
The arrival of Eisa means Exeter have five loanees at the club now with Eisa joining Aston Villa goalkeeper Vili Sinisalo, Chelsea winger Dion Rankine, Fulham attacker Luke Harris and Luton Town’s Admiral Muskwe in moving to Devon temporarily. Muskwe is back at Luton, though, having suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty in November, but he is expected to return to St James Park soon.
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