Chester FC new boy Jordan Archer has the potential to be playing in the Football League next season.
That’s the verdict of Blues boss Marcus Bignot ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Eastleigh (3pm).
Archer will be looking to fire Chester to a victory that would move them out of the relegation places going into Wednesday’s derby at home to Wrexham (7.45pm).
The 24-year-old made a dream debut for the club last month when he opened the scoring in the thrilling 3-2 home win over Barrow AFC .
His goal and performance underlined the thinking in lower-league and non-league circles that Bignot has pulled off a masterstroke.
He convinced Archer to turn down the advances of Tranmere Rovers to make a free transfer move from a Stourbridge side managed by former Chester City winger Gary Hackett.
The highly rated frontman, who not too long ago was working in a bank , has penned a contract with the Blues until the summer of 2019.
But after a blistering start to the season, which has seen him score 10 goals in total, he is already being watched by a number of scouts working for higher-league clubs.
Archer had a trial with Walsall in the summer while Neil Aspin, who left Gateshead last month to take over Port Vale, is also thought to be an admirer.
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And Bignot, whose aim this season is to steer Chester to safety before putting the foundations in place for a promotion challenge in the future, said: “Jordan Archer he has the potential to move on.
“I think he’s up to double figures now, in terms of the club he’s just left and with us, and he if carries on that ratio, and finishes the season well, he could be going to a higher level.”
Bignot also used his knowledge of the non-league scene to bring in AFC Telford United left-back Jordan Gough , who has also made a positive start to his Blues career.
But while it is a market the former Solihull Moors and Grimsby Town manager will continue to try and shop in, he admits any new players coming in will have to cost the club ‘nothing’.
Bignot said: “I’ve been using the line ‘beg, steal or borrow’, but I’m going to have to change it to ‘duck, bob and weave’.
“We knew the financial restraints, we’ve been really cute in our recruitment, and that’s pleasing, but we’re going to have to continue to do that. It’s not a case of players going out will allow players to come in.
“It is literally what we can get in for zero. Our financial director is a Godsend, and when I tell him I can get a player for nothing, he doesn’t believe me.
“So I’m trying to prove him wrong and find those gems who cost the football club nothing.
“Agents call me all the time saying, ‘this player won’t cost much’, and I say, ‘anything above zero is too much’, so they soon put the phone down!”
