Ben Garner hopes Brandon Hanlan can replicate the progress Jonson Clarke-Harris achieved at Bristol Rovers.
The 23-year-old striker joined from Gillingham on Thursday to bring much-needed depth to the Pirates’ attacking options.
The consensus assessment on Hanlan from fans and journalists alike is he has the attributes required to be a top League One striker and his scoring record does not reflect his ability.
The former Charlton Athletic forward netted 16 goals in 84 games for Gills, but Garner pointed to Hanlan’s predecessor for the number nine shirt as proof of the growth possible at the Mem.
Clarke-Harris, who joined Peterborough United for a fee in the region of £1.25million last month, had 35 goals in 214 career appearances before he wore the blue and white quarters. He would flourish into one of League One’s top marksman with 27 in 49 games with the Gas.
Hanlan is different in style to Clarke-Harris, and Garner believes he is suited to the football principles he is trying to implement, but he hopes his new man can follow a similar trajectory of improvement to the Posh striker.
“If you look at Jonson Clarke-Harris before he came to Rovers his goals record wasn’t fantastic,” Garner said. “His best spell in his career was with us.
“We’re hoping that can be the same with Brandon. We think he’s got all the tools to be a very good front player, and we also feel we can develop him on the training ground.
“We’re looking forward to getting him involved, working with him and developing him.
“We think he’s a very good signing for us. He’s quick, he’s powerful and a skilful front player. A good age, a great attitude, great work rate and we think he’s a really good fit for what we want.
“I also think he’s got a lot more potential and he will score a lot more goals in the future. We think he could be a real asset for the football club, so delighted to have him on board and looking forward to working with him.”
Hanlan is Rovers’ ninth summer signing, but Garner is not finished yet. Bristol Live understands he is particularly keen to add depth in central midfield.
“We’d still like to add one possibly two more to the squad, just to give us the all-round qualities that we want,” he said at his press conference on Friday morning.
“We’re very hopeful of getting those done before the window closes, but that’s obviously ongoing.
“We’re in a good place with the squad. One or two more will give us the depth and all-round balance of the squad that we want.”
