'Smart business from Walsall as Kemar Roofe takes huge stride on his road to recovery'

It was not too long ago that Roofe was firing at all cylinders with Rangers - scoring 38 times in 102 games for the Scottish giants. 

In four seasons, Roofe lifted the league title, two domestic trophies and finished runners-up in the Europa League in 2022. 

He also worked under Marcelo Bielsa for a period at Leeds United, where he scored 33 goals in 123 appearances in three years at Elland Road. 

His rise came courtesy of a memorable season at Oxford United, as he plundered 26 goals to lead them to automatic promotion into League One in 2016. 

The question that begs itself now is - can Walsall help him rediscover his groove? Well, on the evidence of his footballing CV, it is a gamble worth taking.

'A win-win for all parties' 

This feels like really smart business from Walsall. Roofe has clearly passed the first audition to earn himself a deal and he now has a couple of months to prove that he can start to contribute. 

That will not be a quick process, but Mat Sadler is level-headed enough to understand that, and will look to find ways of using him wisely in his quest to regain match fitness.

It would be remiss to overlook just how important this opportunity is for Roofe as well. His career has pretty much been derailed by injury and this is his next shot to get things back on track. 

At 32, Roofe can also look to the likes of Jamille Matt, Aden Flint and Albert Adomah to know just how much the experienced heads are valued in the dressing room. 

Fitness and minutes is the priority, but if Walsall can help rediscover just a portion of his previous form, then the gamble will have been worthwhile.

Key addition in attack 

His arrival will also begin to quell any fears over the lack of depth in attack. 

Walsall admittedly left themselves a little short when the summer transfer window shut, but they've fortunately not had to suffer the consequences, with Daniel Kanu and Aaron Pressley (so far) avoiding injury. 

Kanu has netted six times in all competitions, including three in his last four, while Pressley has weighed in with four more. 

Albert Adomah has also contributed two from the bench in League Two and Jamille Matt put an end to his seven-month goal drought in the 3-0 win at Eastleigh in the FA Cup earlier this month. 

Now, Roofe will only augment the attacking options, even if he is only capable of contributing from the bench for a time. 

In fact, that is probably exactly what he needs. He will want to build himself back up and minutes from the bench will provide him with the platform to do that.