2026-27 Recruitment Plan for Kidderminster Harriers

Player Decisions

Retain

Owen Evans, Reece Devine, Louis Francis, Arthur Squire, Richard Faakye, Bruce Minaker, David Davis, Layton Love, Seb Thompson, Reece Hall, Samson Hewett, Josh Bishop

Release

Josh Robinson, Tom Palmer, Kam Kandola, Amari Morgan-Smith, Jack Clarke, Pierce Bird, Rhys Lovett, Tobi Sho-Silva, Christian Dibble, Joe Foulkes

Loan End

Festus Arthur, Brayden Johnson, Ryley Reynolds, Dan Waldron, Charlie Cooper, Kieren Donnelly

Loan Out

Louis Francis, Arthur Squire, Bruce Minaker, Layton Love, Samson Hewett

Lose / Sell

George Walker, Emeka Obi

Sign

Ben Crompton, Callum Dolan, Zak Brown, Lewis Walker, Max Brogan, Cian Harries, Ollie Tipton, Ethan Moore, Levi Amantchi

Retained Squad

New Signings

Josh Gracey (Wolverhampton Wanderers – loan)

The first player on this list that I have picked out for Kidderminster Harriers to sign is perhaps the most important in the form of Josh Gracey. Harriers go into 2026-27 with Josh Bishop on the books as the only registered goalkeeper, yet if they are to be competitive in the National League then I think they’ve got to add a new #1. As such, of the options that are available to them on the market I would be angling towards a loan move for Wolverhampton Wanderers youngster Josh Gracey. 

Signing for Kidderminster Harriers this summer would make logical sense from the point of view of being a sensible option for the next stage of his development. He comes off the back of a particularly impressive campaign in the National League North with AFC Telford United, and so if I were in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ shoes then I would be looking to identify him a loan opportunity that allows him to go and test himself against a better standard of football than he played against in 2025-26. Playing for Kidderminster Harriers would provide him with that opportunity. 

One thing that I particularly like about Gracey is the fact that he can come and dominate a penalty area, with an imposing frame at 6ft 4in, aggressive off his line, and will come to collect crosses. Harriers are likely to have to manage games and withstand a fair bit of pressure against the ball at times as they step up into the National League, and so having a goalkeeper that is quick and aggressive off his line in coming to claim and suitably combative to ride contacts is key. 

Despite the maturity with which he performed for AFC Telford last season, it is important to remember that the youngster is still only 18 years of age and so has got a lot of development left to go in his game. However, I think that the raw tools that you’d typically look for are there and so with the right coaching I feel he can thrive at the level. 

With Wolverhampton Wanderers being relegated into the Championship, Gracey may well feel that he can stay at the club and try to compete as a #2 goalkeeper. However, I don’t feel that having a back-up goalkeeper is going to do much in the way of his development nor change the needle for Wanderers, and so I would be looking to get him a loan move in which he can go out and play regular football week-in, week-out. Given that Kidderminster Harriers are in need of a new #1 in wake of Christian Dibble’s exit, I think that signing for Harriers would allow him to indeed go and be a #1 and at a good level. 

The youngster won’t be short of offers for a potential loan move given that he is extremely highly-rated within Wolverhampton Wanderers circles, as well as having represented Northern Ireland at youth level on the international front. He is only 18 years of age and has an immensely bright future ahead of him in the game, and I think that a full season out playing games would do him the world of good.

Tyler Magloire (Port Vale – free)

Another profile that I think Kidderminster Harriers will be looking to sign before the start of the season is a right-sided centre-back. Emeka Obi departed the club to join Forest Green Rovers, and as of yet Wotton has been unable to bring in a direct replacement. One player that is available after being let go by his club at the end of the 2025-26 campaign and could represent a nice option on a free transfer is Tyler Magloire. 

Magloire is a player that I first saw play at the level on loan for Hartlepool United under Dave Challinor in the year that United won promotion to the Football League, and he is someone that I was hugely impressed by. He has been promoted out of the division before with The Monkey Hangers, and has played a lot of his career at a higher level in the Football League. Therefore, he would provide The Harriers with a fairly steady operator for the fifth tier and one with the experience to handle the intensity of the season ahead. 

In terms of what The Harriers have currently got on their books in the defensive third, I think that Magloire would represent a sensible addition as a complementary profile. Cian Harries is more of a ball-playing, technical type and perhaps isn’t the quickest or mobile, and so signing a player that can provide that more athletic profile alongside him would be incredibly useful. Magloire is a centre-back that prides himself on his speed and his ability to defend wide in the channel. As Harriers step up into the National League, they’re going to be up against a more athletic and agile profile of attacking player, and so speed into the backline is a must. 

Is Tyler Magloire a Football League centre-back? As a starter, I don’t think so. That said, I think that he would provide real value as an option in the National League. He is a centre-back by trade, yet I think that he has got the athleticism and physical attributes such that he could comfortably provide versatility filling in as a right-back. I am expecting that Paul Wotton will look to set his Harriers side up in a three at the back at times to make them more organised against the ball, and so having a player of Magloire’s profile as one of the wide centre-backs represents a good stylistic fit. 

The experienced defender has been training with the PFA during pre-season as he looks to keep up his fitness after being released by Port Vale, but I believe that Kidderminster Harriers would be a sensible level at which to get him back into playing regular minutes. In terms of a regular spot, he perhaps wouldn’t be afforded that luxury if he were setting his sights on the Football League and so dropping down into the National League with Kidderminster Harriers may well make more sense. If Paul Wotton is able to land him, I think that he would be a good piece of business.

Aleks Starcenko (Worksop Town – fee)

So far this summer, Paul Wotton has strengthened the midfield pack fairly well, albeit the observation that I would make is that perhaps it is more so on the side of being hard-working and defensively diligent in lieu of technical quality. As such, I would be looking to add a player that can provide that little bit more invention and craft in an attacking sense to complement what they’ve already got. One option that may be of interest to Wotton having come off the back of a strong campaign in the National League North is Worksop Town’s Aleks Starcenko. 

Starcenko is a player that I highlighted as being a target for a few sides in the last January window, with the 25-year-old having quietly caught my eye with a string of impressive displays for Worksop Town. 

As a profile, Starcenko is exactly what The Harriers are looking for; an athletic, line-breaking, attacking midfielder with a good engine and a nice eye for goal. He has a low centre of gravity and is physically strong, and therefore he is able to pick up pockets of space between the line, shield the ball effectively and get on the turn to drive to goal. 

In many ways, I think that Starcenko is a very similar profile to Stefan Mols in that he is an all-action, energetic, pressing midfielder whose first thought is to get the ball out their feet, progress the ball and look to play forward. He isn’t the biggest, and so I feel that you get the best out of him when playing as the advanced midfielder in front of a double pivot whereby you afford him the positional freedom to go and get involved in the play, make runs beyond and find pockets of space. 

Harriers have already accumulated a lot of good midfield options over the course of the summer, but I do feel like they would benefit from adding a player of Starcenko’s profile to give them that something different; crucially, better ball progression against low blocks and teams that look to press. The Harriers need players that can carry the ball from deep and drive into space, and Starcenko is a good fit for this. 

The model that The Harriers have to employ under Wotton is largely signing young players and providing them with the opportunity to grasp playing fifth tier football, and Starcenko is a player that I think represents quite a nice project. I think that if he can get himself a run of games in the National League and prove his quality then I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he can ‘go again’ and move upwards from Kidderminster Harriers.

Omar Bogle (Crewe Alexandra – free)

Paul Wotton has already signed Cian Harries and Levi Amantchi this summer for The Harriers – two players that he wanted to sign when he was in charge of Torquay United, yet never managed to get over the line – and so it wouldn’t surprise me if he revisits some of his other long-standing targets going into 2026-27. One player that I think he will have already – at the very least – had a discussion with over the potential of a possible deal is former Grimsby Town striker Omar Bogle. 

The Harriers have lost experienced forward Amari Morgan-Smith since the end of the 2025-26 campaign, and so they’ve got to try and replace Morgan-Smith’s physicality and presence at the top end of the pitch. They have added a player of that physical profile in Levi Amantchi and he is a bit gangly and unorthodox, and so will occupy centre-backs. I would, however, still look to add some physicality to the forward line and Bogle is an imposing striker with a good frame, well-built, powerful and strong with his back to goal. He is particularly effective when he is able to get his body in, hold the ball up, spin and drive the ball to goal. 

When I have watched Bogle at this level, the forward has impressed. I remember him playing at his best (with Grimsby Town) and I thought that he was particularly dangerous when you can work that bit of aggression and bite into his game. When you can get him motivated to the point that he is a bit of a ‘bully’ in the way he plays, out-musculing defenders, holding them off and dominating them physically then I think he plays his best football. 

While Bogle is a #9, I think that he does his best work slightly off the front in more of the wide half-spaces, particularly off the right-hand side. If you can work the ball into him in that inside right channel with the ball on his left and facing up the goal, Bogle can be a major threat with the quality of his long distance shooting and the power in his ball-striking.

Bogle had mixed success during his time with Crewe Alexandra, and is a player that openly sighted off-field struggles for his downturn in fortunes towards the back end of his time at Gresty Road. Regardless of where Bogle goes next, he will want to sign somewhere that he is going to have the backing and compassion of a manager to get the best out of him, overlook any struggles, yet all the while give him the support that he perhaps needs. Wotton prides himself on the strength of his man management and his ability to look after players on a personnel level before they are a player, and so I feel that Wotton would be a good fit for providing Bogle with the type of environment that he will need to do well. 

The 32-year-old will no doubt want to try and keep his status as a Football League player, but I wonder whether there is value in him dropping down into the National League, getting a consistent run of games under his belt, managing himself physically and enjoying his football again. If I was advising him, I would say that the opportunity to play closer to home, being viewed as the ‘main man’ and getting regular minutes is an attractive proposition for the experienced forward.

Aaron Loupalo-Bi (Fulham – loan)

The final position I have picked out a potential signing for on this list is another striker, and have suggested that Kidderminster Harriers go into the loan market to sign youngster Aaron Loupalo-Bi. The Fulham academy product finished the 2025-26 campaign on loan at League Two side Walsall, but going into 2026-27 I think that he could well benefit from going and finding himself a more regular playing berth. As such, I feel that The Harriers could represent a sensible option for the youngster. 

When I look at The Harriers’ existing attacking options, one profile that I feel they are lacking is a player with speed, athleticism and the willingness to run in beyond the play off the shoulder. Especially if they sign a more robust and physical option in Omar Bogle to lead the line, I think that they would massively benefit in adding that younger, more agile, high-energy forward that can stretch teams. 

As a profile, Loupalo-Bi is the type of player that plays on the last line of the opposition and wants to make moves in behind. He is a brilliant athlete, quick and a powerful runner, and he is particularly dangerous when you can work the ball into space behind the centre-backs and get him turned in the channel. 

One of the reasons as to why I would be an advocate for the Fulham youngster going out and playing his football in the National League next season is the fact that he needs to focus on the quality of his ball-striking, and develop instincts as more of a goal-scorer rather than focusing on his off the ball work. When I have watched him for Walsall, the youngster has been diligent and dynamic in his running, work for the team and willingness to press in the channels, but I feel that if he is going to go to that next step in his development then he’s got to show his composure and quality in his finishing and so getting a regular run of games will afford him that. 

One thing that I particularly like about Loupalo-Bi is the versatility in his game. I don’t expect Kidderminster Harriers to have as big a squad as some of the other sides in the league, and so signing players who are adaptable is key. While his most effective work is in running in behind, the youngster is aerially strong enough and has the physicality such that he can lead the line as the central #9. 

I think that it would be a coup for Kidderminster Harriers if they were able to land the youngster on loan given that he finished last season in the Football League and will likely be looking for another EFL opportunity in 2026-27. However, if I was in Fulham’s position I think that the chance for the youngster to go and play regular football in the National League might be a sensible move for the Cottagers striker. If Harriers can get the deal done, I feel it would be a good signing.