GILLINGHAM chairman Paul Scally has left the door open for striker Iffy Onuora to stay at the club and partner new signing Rod Wallace up front next season.

Onuora, who will be out of contract on Monday, had talks with Sheffield United this week and will join their players for pre-season training when they report back next Thursday.

But as Onuora contemplated joining United, Mr Scally said: “I intend talking to Iffy in the next week or so. It may well be that he'll be offered a new contract that he'll accept.

“We want to keep Iffy definitely, but whether we can afford to if one of the other signing options drops is another matter. In an ideal world we would like to keep Iffy but we can't make that decision for a few more days.”

After clinching the signing of Wallace on Sunday, Mr Scally said the club remained in the hunt for a second striker - possibly former Brentford top scorer Lloyd Owusu - and hoped to finalise a deal by the end of this week.

Midfielders Marcus Browning and Mark Saunders, who, like Onuora will be out of contract next week, are being linked with other clubs. Browning has become a target of interest of newly promoted Division 2 club Luton while Saunders interests Oxford whose manager Ian Atkins is looking to rebuild the side.

Atkins has also expressed interest in Gillingham defender Mark Patterson, who has a year of his contract remaining.