Aldershot Town manager Scott Davies has made a transfer admission, regarding the future of one of his summer signings.
The Shots began the 2026/27 campaign in impressive style, but have since slipped down to 14th in the National League table and have recorded just one league win in their last six matches.
This weekend will see the club make the trip to fellow out-of-form side Southend United, knowing a victory would be enough to put their poor form behind them and return to the top half of the table, though it won’t be a straight-forward assignment.
Aldershot manager makes transfer admission
Heading into Saturday’s trip to Roots Hall, Aldershot finally confirmed the arrival of striker Daniel Cummings on loan from Championship side West Ham United, after previously revealing that they were in talks with a loan striker – but the move was never announced.
The 20-year-old arrives on loan until January, less than 18 months after his move from Scottish giants Celtic, and is therefore likely to be looking at utilising his experience to score goals and prove himself on the first-team stage.
Similarly, Aldershot also confirmed the temporary exit of forward Marcus Wyllie, who joined National League North side Bedford Town on loan until early-January.
However, it appears as though there could be another forward exit from the National League side in the coming weeks.
Revealing all during his pre-match press conference on the club’s YouTube channel, Davies revealed…
‘Probably important to mention that Marcus Dinanga won’t be in the squad tomorrow, for a reason that will obviously stay private – there’s probably footballing reasons as well to go with that and he’s been made available as of now.’
The 29-year-old joined Aldershot on a one-year contract during the summer, and has already made 20 appearances across all competitions for Scott Davies’ side – scoring seven goals and providing three assists including a hat-trick against Norwich City’s U21s in the National League Cup.
Is this the correct decision?
Throughout the summer, Aldershot’s transfer strategy was largely focussed on either released academy players (most commonly from Reading) or recruiting individuals looking to make the step up from the National League South – so the arrival of Dinanga certainly didn’t meet the criteria they’d been using at the time.
However, when building a squad containing players with little-to-no National League experience, it is important to ensure you have players like Dinanga who are proven at the level and can have a positive effect both on and off the field.
Despite a serious injury in recent seasons, the 29-year-old has impressed with the Shots this season and his exit certainly isn’t one that supporters and neutrals may have expected.
Dinanga was an unused substitute during Aldershot’s heavy away defeat to League One side Barnsley in the FA Cup last weekend, fuelling the argument that he could be on his way out of the football club.
Regardless of his impressive start to the season, the forward is likely to be a key influence in the dressing room, meaning that if he were to depart, it would certainly leave a hole in the side from both a quality perspective as well as a leadership point of view.
