2026-27 Recruitment Plan for Chester

Player Decisions

Retain

Declan Weeks, Connor Woods, Jack Bainbridge, Nathan Woodthorpe, Billy Davies, Tom Peers, Tom Davies, Lewis Leigh, Alex Brown, Osker Rosenblatt, Isaac Burgess

Release

Scott Burgess, Bobby Jones, Dion Kelly-Evans, Tom Leak, Fin Shrimpton

Lose

Iwan Murray, Dylan Mottley-Henry

Loan End

Hayden Carson, Phil Croker, Zak Emmerson, Michael Kelly, Finley Roberts, Jaiden White

Loan Out

Billy Davies, Osker Rosenblatt

Sign

Jacob Hazel, Sam Reed, Dom McHale, George Burroughs, Luke Hewitson, Jack Kenny, Kofi Moore, Jefferson Abreu

Retained Squad

New Signings

Andrew Boyce (Scunthorpe United – free)

One area in which The Seals have highlighted as being key for strengthening during the summer is centre-back. Crucially, finding a centre-back that has got experience to complement the younger profile of defenders that they’ve already recruited in Jack Kenny and George Burroughs. While he is very much in the ‘twilight years’ of his professional career, one player who I feel they could attract to the club and could provide a useful option on a 1-year-deal is former Scunthorpe United centre-back Andrew Boyce. 

Boyce is now 36 years of age, and yet he shows little sign of slowing down. The veteran has played 30+ league games for the past four seasons with The Iron – and indeed has done so for the last nine in his career – and so he definitely ticks the ‘experience’ box. Despite being let go by The Iron at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, Boyce made a total of 38 appearances in all competitions for United this season and so I would be confident in saying that he still has plenty more to give in his playing days at the level. 

Importantly, Boyce provides Phil Parkinson with leadership and a model professional. A lot of the players that The Seals have signed this summer are new to the level and stepping up from lower in the pyramid. He has played just under 600 career games. He has won promotion out of the National League North with Scunthorpe United in 2024-25, and has also played at the level with King’s Lynn Town and Gainsborough Trinity. The majority of his career has come playing in non-league, yet has enjoyed a number of spells in the Football League. He is someone that leads by example, a good orator, demanding of his team mates and someone that is hugely committed. 

While I am expecting Phil Parkinson to set Chester up to be fairly expressive in the way that they play and want to pass out from the back, I think that there is a lot of value in simply signing a few players who can provide the team with the no-nonsense, combative, physically strong types that don’t mind being slightly more industrious in their approach. Quite a lot of the players that Parkinson has signed this summer are of the ‘quick, tricky and skilful’ profile, and so ensuring they have got the right balance requires signing players to the antithesis of that. 

The National League North is going to be a tough division next year, and so I feel that supplementing the group with a few ‘tried and trusted’ players that can hit the ground running and almost that Parkinson ‘doesn’t have to worry about’ is incredibly useful in ensuring they can be competitive from the off. After being let go by Scunthorpe United, I think that dropping into the National League North to play his football could well have a lot of merit. Despite his age, I don’t think he will be short of offers. 

He is the type of player that could quite easily take up the role as captain, or at the very least one of the ‘leadership group’. He is a good out-and-out defender, and if The Seals need an experienced centre-back then I don’t think they are going to find many better.

Ashton Muir (Manchester City – free)

Phil Parkinson has already signed two wide players in the form of Kofi Moore and Jefferson Abreu. Looking at the squad that they have, I still think there is scope to strengthen in the wide areas. One player that has been let go at the end of 2025-26 and who I would be particularly eager to see sign for The Seals to work under Parkinson is youngster Ashton Muir. The 20-year-old was let go by Manchester City, and I feel that he could represent a clever project player for Parkinson. 

In terms of the way that he plays, there is something very ‘Chris Conn-Clarke esque’ in his low centre of gravity, protection of the ball, quick touches of the ball and the quality in his dribbling and ball-carrying. The youngster plays his best stuff on the left-hand side whereby he is able to face up the play, open up the pitch and commit players, and he has the similar swagger you’d expect in a Chris Conn-Clarke type player in his willingness to receive the ball under pressure and get on the turn. 

To get the best out of Muir, I think that you need to try and get him into the spaces whereby he can get on the turn and get shots off. Chris Conn-Clarke very much operated in that left channel as more of an inside forward in wanting to drift into the #10 positions, and picking up clever pockets between the lines. Muir’s ability to receive the ball under pressure and control in tight spaces makes him a real threat in drifting into central areas. His ability to get his body in and shield the ball in his dribbles reminds me of Eden Hazard, with the quick changes of direction, good movement, and the ability to manipulate off either foot. 

Muir is only 20 years of age, and his experience of first-team football is extremely limited. However, I think that Phil Parkinson could quite enjoy working with a player of Muir’s technical profile. He has demonstrated in his work with Altrincham that he is a good developer of young players, and I would be keen to see how Muir could improve under his leadership. You’ve only got to look at the improvement in the games of wide players Chris Conn-Clarke and Justin Amaluzor to recognise the impact that Parkinson can have on a young player, and I would be confident the youngster could undergo a similar progression. 

Given that Muir is new to first-team football, I feel it is perhaps difficult to know the level at which to pitch his next club at. If I was advising Muir on what decision to make for the good of his own career, I think that dropping down into non-league, under a good coach, in a side that are going to want and rely on having a lot of the ball, and set up to play an expansive, possession-based, attacking style seems like a number of requisite ticks in the box against his name. He will no doubt have a fair degree of interest given he has come through at a top academy, but I think that he could be a good option for The Seals.

Rhys Walsh (Sunderland – free)

The second wide player that I have in this piece as a potential signing for Chester during the summer is youngster Rhys Walsh. Like Ashton Muir, Walsh was let go by a Premier League academy at the end of the 2025-26 campaign and so is available to sign for The Seals on a free transfer. He is a bit of an unknown at this point given his lack of first-team minutes, yet I think that he could be another intriguing project for Phil Parkinson to get to work with. 

The Seals have already brought in two players in Kofi Moore and Jefferson Abreu that are quick, direct, line-breaking wingers that are going to look to drive the ball to goal and hit the byline. They both want to commit players and attack space. While the pair are in a similar mould to that of Justin Amaluzor that Parkinson has managed previously, I think there is definitely scope within the group to add more of a technical, tricky, quick-footed wide player that can provide that little bit more artistry in creating from open play. 

I think that there is definitely a clear need for Rhys Walsh to undergo a bit of physical development if he is to handle the physicality of the National League North, and I think that is the challenge for Parkinson during the off season. 

Walsh is the type of player that will always be looking for half a yard to get his shot off, and so I think he provides an option in more central areas for The Seals as a #10 whereby he can step onto the play. I think that longer-term that is where Walsh may well gravitate towards (playing centrally) as he hasn’t got that explosive power or athleticism to play wide and commit players on the outside. His standout skillsets are in the quality of his technical ability, quick feet and mazy dribbling, and so drifting in off the left-hand side and opening the pitch up is where he can get real joy. 

The youngster is out of a good academy, and has got some experience – albeit sparingly – of playing in the National League North having spent time with South Shields last season. I feel that the sixth tier is the right level at which to pitch him for a potential move. Under a coach that is as good with young players – particularly attacking players – as Phil Parkins, I think that Walsh would be a sensible option for The Seals.

Conor McAleny (Harrogate Town – free)

Chester boss Phil Parkinson has hinted at the fact The Seals will be signing an ‘experienced attacking midfielder with EFL and National League pedigree’, and there are definitely a few interesting options on the market. One player that did peak my interest and who I feel would be a good stylistic fit for Chester in that #10 role behind the striker is former Salford City and Harrogate Town man Conor McAleny. 

McAleny finished the campaign with AFC Fylde, and was part of The Coasters’ side that won promotion out of the National League North. The fact that he hasn’t already re-signed with Craig Mahon’s side going into 2026-27 perhaps suggests that The Coasters will opt against going back in for the 33-year-old in the summer and he remains a free agent. Personally, I think that the likelihood is that he will drop into non-league for his next move and it will be interesting to see whether he goes back into the National League North, or indeed gets a chance to play in the National League. 

If I was McAleny, I think that the opportunity of joining Chester – potentially on a 2-year-deal, and part of an exciting project – may well be an attractive proposition for the attacker at this stage of his career. The Seals have made it clear that the appointment of Phil Parkinson is done with the aim of getting promoted out of the National League North and start climbing the league, and given what Parkinson has been able to achieve with Altrincham at a similar level then it wouldn’t surprise me to see them get promoted next season. For a player that is in the back end of his career, I feel that he may be tempted by it.

One of the key reasons as for why I would be pushing for the signing of McAleny to complement this Chester group is his experience. Quite a few of the attacking players that The Seals have signed already are young, up-and-coming, more dynamic operators, whereas if they are to be competitive at the top end of the league and get promoted then I definitely feel there is value in them signing one or two more experienced faces. McAleny has got that intelligence and appreciation for where the ball is going to drop, with good decision-making and the ability to remain composed in key moments. 

As a fit for this Chester side, I think that playing as an advanced midfielder would suit him. When I have watched McAleny, I feel that he perhaps lack the physicality and athleticism to handle playing centrally as a #9, and is most effective when he is able to step onto the play facing the goal. Playing as a #10, McAleny is able to take up clever pockets of space between the lines on the edge of the box, get on the turn and get shots off. 

McAleny may well have been let go by Harrogate Town at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, but I am still a firm believer that he could still offer real value to a side at National League North level. He has experienced winning at the level as recently as 2025-26, is a versatile attacking profile, technically strong, and could provide that little bit of creativity centrally that The Seals could do with adding. If they can convince him to drop down into the National League North, I think he would be a good addition.