Summer signing Javaun Splatt has left Ramsgate without playing a game.

Splatt, who only joined from Isthmian South East rivals Whitehawk in May, has made a quick return to his old club.

Rams moved for the striker after he scored 19 goals last season, signing him along with Hawks team-mate Leon Redwood.

While wing-back Redwood remains at Southwood, Splatt is back at the Enclosed Ground after receiving an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“Basically, he had a better deal from Whitehawk and he wanted to go back there for that reason,” said Rams boss Steve Lovell.

“It’s more of a financial thing. You can’t stand in people’s way if they don’t want to be with you.

“There’s no point having players if they’re not going to be happy.

“You can make players stay but you’re not going to get the best out of them if they’re not happy mentally.

“Especially at this level, you want boys to go and enjoy their football.

“It happens all the time, during this period anyway, at this level.

“Players will come and go - and he came and he went.

“We just get on with it. We’re disappointed but it’s his decision, that’s fine.

“He had one training session with us and then he got approached by Whitehawk again.

“You can take it further and everything but I just want to forget about it.

“It’s done, it’s gone, he made a decision and we respect that.

“I’d rather try and get somebody else now who wants to play for us.

“There’s a lot of movement that can happen, not just with us, but other clubs as well.

“I’m happy with what we’ve got at the moment.

“We will definitely add to the squad but I’m only interested in players who want to stay with us and play with us.

“That’s the thing, getting the right balance and the right type of player to help us have a go at having a successful season.”

Ramsgate - rightly or wrongly - had a reputation for paying big wages under ex-boss Matt Longhurst.

Lovell, who has agreed new deals with 10 of last season’s squad, won’t be held to ransom by anyone and is prepared to bide his time in the market.

“Players are worth what they’re worth in my eyes,” he said. “If they’re coming for money, they’re coming for the wrong reason.

“The budget is what it is and I’ll deal with the budget.

“The chairman (James Lawson) has been great, he’s allowing me to use it the way I want, it’s just a matter of getting players who are coming for the right reasons.

“The league this year will be very competitive. Contrary to what people think about our budget, there’s a lot of teams spending good money.

“We all want good players but attitude and personality are very important to me and they’ve got to want to play for us for the right reasons.

“We’ve signed, I think, 10 from last season, and that’s a big thing for us, keeping the majority of the squad.

“We’re in a position where we know what we need to add and we’ll be doing that in the next two-to-three weeks.

“We’ve got quite a lot of trialists coming in to have a look at, like most clubs are doing.

“I don’t want to jump in and make decisions because lots of players will be available nearer the end of pre-season.

“If a target lands on your lap, and you go, ‘he’s the one’, you obviously do the deal as soon as you can.

“What you don’t want is to jump in and do a deal for a player and then in two weeks’ time someone else comes along and you wish you’d waited.”

Ramsgate host Kennington in their first friendly on Saturday (3pm) and welcome Potters Bar on Wednesday (7.30pm).