[themaclad]

Salford City have signed Kylian Kouassi and Francis Okoronkwo on season-long loans as well as former Portsmouth defender Haji Mnoga and ex-Lincoln forward Hakeem Adelakun.

Kouassi, 21, made 24 appearances for Blackpool last season and scored five goals before his campaign ended early because of injury.

Okoronkwo, 19, joins from Everton, having turned out at youth level for the Premier League club.

Tanzania international Mnoga, 22, joins the Ammies on a one-year deal after leaving Portsmouth earlier in the summer.

Adelakun, 28, left Lincoln in May after spending the second half of last season on loan at Doncaster.

“I’m a striker that can come in and score goals, I’m hard-working and bring energy to the side," Kouassi said.

“I spoke to the gaffer [interim Blackpool head coach Richard Keogh], we had a few chats about where he wanted to be at the end of the season and that attracted me to come here.

Mnoga told the club website, external: "It feels really, really good. It’s been a long window so I’m happy to get this over the line now and I’m really excited to get going,"

Okoronkwo added:, external “I’m not just a big striker, I like to get on the ball, I like to get other people involved. I’m not just going to score goals I’m going to try and assist, I’m going to try and play for the team, obviously graft and see where it gets us.”

[themaclad]

Salford City have signed midfielder Lewis Warrington on loan from Leyton Orient and have also re-signed defender Stephan Negru on loan from Oxford United until the end of the season.

Warrington, 22, previously played for Tranmere Rovers and Fleetwood Town before his arrival at Orient in the summer.

Negru, 22, spent the first half of the campaign on loan with the Ammies, making 22 appearances for the club.

Negru had been recalled by the Us, external earlier this month following a stint with Salford which saw him contribute towards 10 clean sheets in 20 League Two appearances.

"I feel part of the group already, all the lads are boss, training was good and it felt good out there so I'm looking forward to kicking on," Warrington said.

"I'd say I'm tenacious, I like getting on the ball, I like landing tackles and breaking up the play, playing into the forward players and letting them create."

The pair join a side which are seventh in League Two in a crowded battle for the top three positions.

[themaclad]

Salford City have released Matty Lund, Conor McAleny, Liam Shephard and Ryan Watson.

They depart the Ammies after the club narrowly missed out on a League Two play-off spot on the final day of the season.

Midfielder Lund, 34, spent four seasons with the club, making a total of 167 appearances in all competitions and had taken a player-coach role at the club last term.

Meanwhile, 32-year-old forward McAleny made 141 appearances after joining in 2021 and scored 22 goals, while defender Shephard turned out 92 times for the club. Watson, 31, made 137 appearances after joining from Tranmere Rovers in 2022.

The club have also triggered an extension to the contracts of Ossama Ashley, Haji Mnoga and Luke Garbutt.

New contract offers have also been made to Jamie Jones, Curtis Tilt, Tosin Olopade, Hakeeb Adelakun, Alfie Henderson, Jai Curran-Nicholls and Jacob Lara.

[themaclad]

Salford City have signed Wealdstone midfielder Kallum Cesay for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal.

The 22-year-old Sierra Leone international scored seven goals in 40 appearances for the National League side last season.

Cesay came through the academy at Tottenham Hotspur before joining the Stones in March 2024.

"I am very happy to be here and my first impressions are very good," he told the club website.

[themaclad]

Salford City have signed Barnet defender Adebola Oluwo on a two-year deal.

The 25-year-old scored six goals in 36 games last season as the Bees won the National League title.

"It was an amazing feeling last season, it was the first time I have been promoted as well so it was a new experience for me," he told the club website., external

"I just cannot wait to get started here and because I have had that taste of promotion last season I really want to go do it again here at Salford."

[themaclad]

Salford City have signed striker Jay Bird for an undisclosed fee from Exeter City.

Bird joins with the League Two club on a two-year deal, having spent just 12 months in Devon.

He managed only two goals in 19 games for Exeter last season, but then scored six in 11 matches during a loan spell in the National League with Rochdale.

"Last season just showed how well they were doing, and I definitely think that by coming here and being a part of this team, something can happen this year," said Bird.

Salford finished eighth last season, missing out on the play-offs on the final day.

Salford City will sign Huddersfield Town centre-back Loick Ayina when his contract with the League One club expires.

The Terriers announced last month that the Congolese defender would be released after six years on their books, during which time he made two league appearances for the club.

The 22-year-old also made four appearances for Boston United on loan and played 12 games each for Dundee United and Ross County in the Scottish Premiership.

Ayina, who has twice been called up for the Republic of the Congo international squad but has yet to win a cap, will sign a two-year contract for the Ammies.

[themaclad]

Salford City have signed former Wrexham goalkeeper Mark Howard.

The 38-year-old was released by the Red Dragons at the end of last season after 58 appearances in three seasons.

Howard previously played three games on loan at the Ammies from Blackpool in 2019.

"This move is the perfect fit for me right now, it is exciting," he told the club website., external

The League Two side have not disclosed the length of contract Howard has signed.

[themaclad]

Salford City have re-signed goalkeeper Matty Young from Premier League side Sunderland on a season-long loan.

The 18-year-old spent last season on loan with the Ammies, making 27 appearances in all competitions.

During his time at the Peninsula Stadium, Young - who came through the Black Cats' academy from the age of seven - kept six consecutive clean sheets over the festive period.

"Knowing what I am capable of and my ability on the pitch, I think there is more expectation now with what I can go and deliver on a matchday," he told the club website., external

"I have set very high expectations on myself to go and push on, and to be the best keeper in the league this year.

"I think the lads will be pushing for automatics this year. If not, the play-offs, so that is something me and the team will be looking forward to, and that is the end goal."

[themaclad]

Salford City have signed former Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday winger Kadeem Harris on a one-year contract.

The 32-year-old was a free agent, having reached the end of a short-term deal at Carlisle United, who signed him in November.

He started his career at Wycombe, spent seven and a half years with Cardiff, and since a two-year spell at Wednesday has played in Ukraine and Turkey.

"I am happy to be here, excited to get going and I cannot wait to get started," Harris told Salford's website., external

"This is an exciting club on the up. I know the club has tried to get promoted the last few years and haven't been successful, unfortunately, but I believe this year could be the year and will be the year.

"I played against the team last season, quite a few of the same players are still here, and Salford have always been a club which has excited me - they're very good going forward and I want to be a part of that, and part of a promotion, and I think we can do that this year."

[themaclad]

Salford City have signed versatile defender Ollie Turton after he left Huddersfield Town at the end of last season.

The 32-year-old, who can also play in midfield, began his career with Crewe Alexandra and made 190 appearances in all competitions before joining Blackpool.

Turton won promotion from League One with Blackpool through the play-offs in the 2020-21 season and left that summer to join Huddersfield, where he made 99 appearances.

"I am absolutely buzzing that it is all done, and I cannot wait to get going and get back to playing football again," he told the club website, external.

"Looking at this club from the outside, it is clear that they have got massive ambitions. Having met with the manager, Karl [Robinson]... it sounds like this is a really good place to be.

"Those ambitions of going up the leagues, well, I am all for that. I still want to get those promotions and achieve things, so this was the perfect fit for me."