Gillingham midfielder George Lapslie has joined Bradford City - a move which will help fund new additions.

The Gills confirmed the deal on Monday afternoon, with Lapslie signing a two-and-a-half year deal with the Yorkshire side. His new deal starts on January 1, 2025.

Lapslie said: “I’m absolutely buzzing. I can't really believe my luck to have a side this size come in for me.

“As soon as I knew I had a chance to get here I just tried to grab it with both hands.”

Gillingham were keen to get a deal concluded as quickly as possible as they need players to leave to free up funds for new arrivals.

Lapslie was first made available for transfer at the end of last season but there were no takers and the 27-year-old remained part of Mark Bonner’s first-team - scoring the winner earlier in the season at Morecambe.

He was on target again recently, netting the equaliser against Cheltenham in a 2-2 draw, but was then surprisingly absent for the game at Colchester. Bonner put his absence down to illness.

Following the move, Bonner said: “George departs with our very best wishes for the future having secured a move that provides him a good opportunity and contract security.

"His professionalism since I’ve arrived has been exemplary and he has contributed some important moments for us this season.

“As we look to reshape the squad in January as much as we can, we know we have to make space in the squad to enable this to happen."

Lapslie was one of several players signed when the Galinsons took charge two years ago, helping the Gills climb off the bottom of League 2 and finish the season in mid-table.

Those signings didn’t come cheap, with the likes of Tom Nichols, Tim Dieng and Oli Hawkins also joining the club as Gillingham’s new owners splashed the cash to avoid dropping out of the Football League.

Current boss Bonner now wants some of his own men and he needs to offload before the can make signings. Getting Lapslie off the wage bill is a good start to the club’s January plans.

His form for the Gills has never managed to reach the heights that were expected, having performed so well at former club Mansfield, including a top display at Priestfield in September 2022 when his old club breezed to a 2-0 win.

Lapslie scored seven goals in the first half of the 2022/23 season but managed just three in the second half of the campaign at Gillingham. Three more followed during the entire 2023/24 season and he’s got two more this term.

He leaves after making 73 league appearances for the Gills - almost half of them off the bench - scoring eight goals.

A key ingredient to his move to Bradford is their head of football operations David Sharpe - a long-time admirer of the midfielder.

Sharpe was at Mansfield when they signed him from Charlton in January 2021.