James Alabi has signed a new one-year contract with Chester FC and assumed the number nine shirt from last season's top scorer Ross Hannah.
Alabi netted six goals in 16 games after arriving as a free agent at the end of January on a short-term deal following his release from Ipswich Town.
His sensational four-goal haul in the 8-2 rout of Aldershot Town, a stunning strike against Kidderminster Harriers and his displays in the wins over Welling United and Grimsby Town underlined the forward's exciting potential.
The challenge now for the forward and manager Jon McCarthy will be to get the 21-year-old to produce that level of performance on a more consistent basis.
If he can the Londoner will be a real handful for National League defences next term and could prove a valuable asset for the Blues.
Alabi forged a promising partnership with Kane Richards, who himself signed a new deal last week, towards the end of the season and revealed he had spoken to his team-mate before committing to the club.
"I’m happy to get the deal sorted early on so it’s a good day for me," said Alabi, who has moved from shirt number 23 into the number nine vacated when Hannah moved to Barrow AFC earlier this month after turning down a new deal.
"As a striker, you always want the number nine shirt so it’s given me even more motivation to push on. I hope to do as much as Ross did with the shirt.
"I spoke to Kane before signing and I’m delighted we can team up again next season and push on from where we left off at the back end of the season."
Alabi began his career with Stoke City and had loan spells with Scunthorpe United, twice, Mansfield Town, Forest Green Rovers, Scunthorpe United and Accrington Stanley.
He was close to moving to Chester last summer but signed for Championship side Ipswich, scoring on his sole senior appearance in a 4-1 win against Doncaster Rovers in the Capital One Cup.
Alabi was loaned to Grimsby Town last term, scoring two goals in five appearances for the Mariner, before returning to Portman Road and negotiating his release in search of more starting opportunitues.
The Blues now have 10 contracted players for 2016-17 with Richards and midfielder Luke George agreeing deals last week.
Centre back Ryan Astles signed earlier this month with Jon Worsnop, Craig Mahon, Sam Hughes and Tom Shaw under contract and youth teamers Kieran Evans and Matty Waters penning their first professional deals.
The Chronicle understands McCarthy has agreed terms with another member of last season's squad and the paperwork should be completed later in the week.
