New signing Tom Bonner says the 'M' which brought him to Ebbsfleet United was not money but rather their manager, Jamie Day.

Bonner, 26, joined the Fleet from Cambridge United at the weekend after being told he could leave the Abbey Stadium.

Three good years at Dartford earned the defender his move to Cambridge in summer 2013 but injuries blighted his time with the U’s, who clinched promotion back to the Football League last season.

Bonner, having started United’s first five games of the season, was dropped by head coach Richard Money and promptly sent out on loan to Dover.

"We’d had an OK start," he recalled. "It was all going well but the gaffer wanted more experience at the back. He thought that might make the team more consistent and he opted to sign a 34-year-old (Michael Nelson).

"We were preparing for a game on Thursday and then on Friday they made the signing. I was told my game time would be limited.

"The gaffer doesn’t like having defenders on the bench. He likes having attacking options so he said that if I wasn’t in the starting XI as a centre-half, I’d be spending a lot of time outside the squad.

"It came as a massive shock. I wasn’t expecting it because I’d played every game and we were doing well. But once you have a meeting like that, you know where you stand and the only thing I wanted to do was go out and play games."

Bonner duly did that, joining Dover on loan and playing 29 times for the Vanarama Conference club. He helped the Whites embark on a 13-match unbeaten streak which saw them reach the third round of the FA Cup and move to within touching distance of league safety.

Bonner said: "When I went out on loan, Cambridge said ‘come back and impress us and we’ll take it from there’ but just before the new year, I knew I’d be signing for somebody else. When the word got out, my phone started ringing and a few offers came in. But I’d already spoken to Jamie Day.

"I’ve known him for a few years and he got in touch as soon as he got the Ebbsfleet job to say he was interested in me.

"Knowing Jamie helped massively. I was impressed by what he did at Welling and I wondered what he could do with a better playing budget.

"He’s ambitious as well. If Jamie was willing to drop down (from the Conference), he obviously believes in this project."

That project is to join Cambridge in the Football League in the immediate future.

"It’s more than realistic," Bonner said. "They’ve already got everything in place to be a League club – the training ground, the plans for the new stadium and the players they’ve
signed.

"It’s down to us now, to show why they signed us and to make this club successful."

Bonner is cup-tied for Saturday’s FA Trophy tie at Braintree, so his Fleet debut is likely to come at Gosport Borough on January 31.