Sam Nombe: Rotherham United sign Exeter City striker for undisclosed fee
- Published
Sam Nombe made his final appearance for Exeter City in Saturday's 2-1 home win over Reading in League One
Championship side Rotherham United have signed Exeter City forward Sam Nombe for an undisclosed club record fee on a four-year deal.
The 24-year-old scored 23 goals in 76 league appearances for the Grecians.
His move to South Yorkshire will see him reunite with boss Matt Taylor, who also signed him for Exeter.
"He'll improve our attacking options and I'm looking forward to working with Sam again," Taylor told the club website., external
"He has pace and power, he's a 'Rotherham United' player who has scored goals consistently over the last few seasons."
Exeter have made a fine start to the League One season and are second in the table after five matches.
Boss Gary Caldwell feels that the deal for Nombe to leave is the right one for all parties.
"Sam joined as the club's record signing in 2021 and has made a massive contribution to the club in his time here," he told the Devon club's website., external
"It is in the best interest of the club that he moves for a substantial fee now, with less than a year left on his contract.
"There will be a replacement coming, but more importantly the transfer allows us to strengthen the squad overall and provide us with more depth."
Analysis
Brent Pilnick, BBC Sport
While Exeter are quite rightly known for their academy that has produced millions of pounds through the likes of Ollie Watkins and Ethan Ampadu, Sam Nombe represents the other way the club has done well.
He is the latest player Exeter have recruited, improved and sold on at a good profit - for Nombe you can also read Tim Dieng, Ryan Bowman, Jayden Stockley and David Wheeler.
Nombe's departure for a reported fee of about £1m - of which his former club Milton Keynes Dons will get a decent chunk, by way of a sell-on clause - will see Exeter earn well over £2m in transfer fees this summer.
Academy products Archie Collins and Josh Key's departures for decent six-figure fees were topped up by about £1m from Ampadu's sell-on clause, after he joined Leeds from Chelsea.
While Exeter fans will doubtless be sad to see Nombe leave, he does so having elevated his reputation as a fearsome League One striker, and swelled the fan-owned club's coffers.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.