Nikki Bull believes he has pulled a 'real rabbit out of the hat' with his latest capture, a player once hailed the 'next Ryan Giggs.'

The Margate boss has signed former Manchester City, Ipswich Town and Swindon Town winger Alex Henshall, who was most recently with Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock.

A former England youth player, Henshall made national headlines in June 2010, when, as a 16-year-old he signed for Manchester City from Swindon after rejecting overtures from their arch rivals United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Swindon-born youngster never made a first team appearance and subsequently had loan spells with Bristol Rovers and Chesterfield before moving to Ipswich on a two-year deal in 2014.

That deal at Portman Road was ended by mutual consent in February of this year after which he signed for Kilmarnock to play under Lee Clark who had also had him on loan when he was in charge at Blackpool.

The agent who looks after Henshall is David Lee, a close friend of Bull's, and the Gate boss explained: "I can't help feeling we've pulled a real rabbit out of the hat with this one.

"He's direct, he's fast and he scores goals. I think possibly his move to Manchester City from Swindon came too early for him but he's still only 22.

"He's not played a lot of first team football but he's spent the last few months back at Swindon and I think they think very highly of him."

Bull hopes to include Henshall in his squad for the home Boxing Day derby with Welling (3pm) but much will depend on whether the player's international clearance comes through in time from the Scottish FA.

Margate

have also confirmed the signing of former Torquay and Corby Town defender Oneil Odofin.

Odofin, who stands 6ft 5in, began his career at Torquay before joining Corby at the start of the season but his stay there ended in October.

Meanwhile, the club have revealed that on-loan Leyton Orient striker Victor Adeboyejo has returned to his parent club because of an injury crisis at Brisbane Road.