'We'll see' - Mat Sadler speaks out as Kemar Roofe continues to train with Walsall
Mat Sadler has revealed that striker Kemar Roofe is still training with Walsall, but that a decision has not yet been reached over a potential deal.
The 32-year-old, who is currently a free agent, has been linked with a move to the Saddlers in recent weeks.
Walsall-born Roofe has been blighted by injury in the past two years and spent eight months without a club following his release by Rangers at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Roofe joined Derby in February for the remainder of the previous campaign, but featured just three times from the bench due to a hamstring injury.
He has been training with Walsall for the past fortnight, and will continue to do so as they look to get him up to speed, before deciding whether to make a move.
'We have to get him up to speed if we're going to do anything' - Sadler on Roofe
"We're still seeing to Kemar, he has still been with us for the last couple of weeks. We're just seeing what it looks like," Sadler said.
"The important thing with Kemar is that he hasn't had a pre-season at all.
"So to then come to us at the very back end of October, we know we're going to have to get him up to speed if we're going to do anything.
"Everything is on the table. I didn't know him before and I spoke about him to John Eustace, who had him at Derby last year.
"He spoke very highly of him and that's what I've seen again. Walsall-born, so we'll see what it looks like."
Injury hell
Roofe started his career at West Brom, but failed to break into the first team, as he had loan spells at Vikingur Reykjavik, Northampton Town, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United and Oxford United respectively.
He joined the latter on a permanent deal in 2015, scoring 26 times in 48 appearances to help lead Oxford to promotion into League Two, and won the division’s Player of the Year award.
After completing a switch to Leeds, Roofe scored 33 goals in 123 matches during four seasons at Elland Road.
The former Jamaican international scored seven goals in his solitary campaign in Belgium with Anderlecht in 2019-20.
In four years at Rangers, Roofe won the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup, and finished as runners-up in the Europa League in 2022.
He found the net 38 times in 102 games across all competitions for Rangers.In total, Roofe has plundered 112 goals in 329 career appearances, and has scored once in five caps for Jamaica.
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