Gillingham boss Steve Evans completed the signing of striker John Akinde today - and then revealed he tried to land him in the summer.

Akinde joins the Gills from League 1 rivals Lincoln City for an undisclosed fee, although the length of contract has not been disclosed by the club.

The 30-year-old has previously worked with Evans when the pair were at Crawley in 2011/12.

“Give only credit to my chairman Paul Scally and the big fella himself," said Evans.

"My boss has been terrier like, but outstanding, and got a player I wanted back in the summer, but he is here now.

“In fairness to John he has showed a real desire to play for me again and as a manager that is very humbling.

“His goals record needs no introduction, he makes us stronger as a group and he knows how hard he must work for the team.

“I have enormous respect for Michael Appleton, Jez George and those above at Lincoln City; we have spoken many times in the last two weeks but all of us have shown a maturity and a real level of professionalism to get this deal over the line.

“We need to conclude a couple of more deals and we will be ready to face the challenges in the second half of the season.”

Akinde began his career in Kent with Gravesend & Northfleet before moving to Bristol City in September 2008.

He has also featured for the likes of Wycombe Wanderers, Dagenham & Redbridge, Portsmouth and Barnet.

Akinde moved to Lincoln City in 2018 and helped them to the League 2 title. He scored 25 goals in 81 appearances for Lincoln, including 17 goals during that title-winning campaign.

His final acr as a Lincoln player saw him score twice in their 5-1 win over Bolton earlier this month after coming on as a second-half substitute.

Akinde is in the Gillingham squad for Saturday's League 1 trip to Rochdale.

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