We are delighted to announce the arrival of prolific striker Macauley Bonne!
Bonne joins us on a one-year deal with a Club option and will wear the number nine shirt at Roots Hall.
Having been born in Ipswich, the forward was in the academies of Ipswich Town, Norwich City and Colchester United, signing his first professional contract at the U’s.
While at Colchester, Bonne would play with current Blues man George Moncur, before he joined Leyton Orient in 2017.
There, the striker enjoyed the most successful spell of his career. Between 2017/18 and 2018/19, he scored 45 goals in 90 appearances as Orient were promoted back to the EFL.
The season after, he netted at a ratio of one in three at Championship level for Charlton before doing similar for Ipswich in League One in 2021/22.
Last term Bonne spent time at both Gillingham and Cambridge, and the 28-year-old arrives in Essex fresh and ready for the challenge ahead!
He said: “I’m really happy to be here and crack on. I’ve been in today and trained with the boys and it’s a really good group, so I’m really happy.
“It’s been me my whole career, scoring goals. The last couple of years haven’t really gone to plan but I spoke with the manager and hopefully I can get back in the swing of things and back to scoring goals in a league I know really well.
“I’ve done my own training here and there where I can. I thought my fitness would be a lot worse off than where I was today, and if I can get 90 minutes or one minute, I’ll be grateful to be back playing.”
Head Coach Kevin Maher added: “[Macauley]’s got a proven record in the National League and has played higher up so we’re really pleased to have someone of his pedigree in.
“He’s at an age where he’s still got loads to offer the Club and the team. He’s not been playing but he’s kept himself in good shape, so we’ll look at how we get his football fitness up to speed.
“He’s still got the desire and the hunger to score goals and he wants to be part of something successful, and that’s the most important thing.”
Welcome to the Club, Macauley!
Bonne could make his debut tomorrow evening at home to Eastleigh.
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