'Closer to home' - Mat Sadler opens up on Levi Amantchi's Walsall exit

The 25-year-old arrived from Bromley for an undisclosed fee in January 2025, but spent the first half of this season on loan at Rochdale. 

Minutes were not forthcoming during his six-month stint at Dale and Sadler feels the best thing for Amantchi was to return to the North East. 

'Returning home the best thing for Levi' - Sadler

"Levi was with us for five to six months at the back end of last season and contributed," Sadler noted. 

"You have to make decisions based on how do we strengthen everything in the whole. 

"One of the decisions with Levi was trying to stretch the money that we have into all areas of the squad. 

"It was an opportunity for Levi and that initially matched up with his loan, but secondarily the opportunity for him to move back home in Gateshead. 

"We did kind of want to keep him in the group of clubs, but as soon as Gateshead came up for Levi, there was only one place he wanted to play his football. 

"Levi has had a career that has take him North, South, East and West of the country. So being back home was the most important thing for him."

Amantchi scored four goals in 21 appearances for Walsall during the second half of last season, after penning an 18-month deal with the option of a further year upon joining the club. 

But he was deemed surplus to requirements in pre-season and was unable to rediscover his form during a frustrating loan at Rochdale. 

He played just 256 minutes across his 14 league appearances for Dale and failed to find the net during his stay. 

Analysis - 'Writing was on the wall' for Amantchi

It felt as if the writing had been on the wall for Amantchi and his future at Walsall for some time. 

The loan at Rochdale was last chance saloon and unfortunately it failed to have the desired effect. 

He showed flashes at Walsall and will always have his last-minute winner in a 2-1 win over Chesterfield in the League Two semi-final play-off second leg to be remembered by. 

But there were far too many games where we was simply anonymous when leading the line and it comes as little surprise that Walsall did little to stand in the way when a chance to head for the exit door arose. 

It's been a turbulent period for Amantchi ever since he left Maidstone United to join Bromley after a goal-laden spell under former Wolves defender George Elokobi.

The evidence of his time with Maidstone suggested he had potential, but that was never unlocked during his short-lived stay at Walsall. 

Perhaps a move back to his roots will be exactly what he needs to kick-start his career.