Yahoo News Exeter City closing in on first signing of the summer
Exeter City are believed to be closing in on their first summer signing with Partick Thistle defender Jack McMillan said to be heading to St James Park.
The versatile 26-year-old is a free agent having turned down the offer of a new contract at Partick with their manager, Kris Doolan, confirming he has interest from a club in England that he wants to take.
Now, the Evening Telegraph in Scotland claim that McMillan is heading to League One with Exeter set to beat Dundee and win the race for his signature.
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Doolan said: “Jack has been an important part of our team ever since I became manager here so naturally I was keen to keep him at the club but a new opportunity in England has come up for him that he wanted to take on so all we can do is wish him the best of luck.”
McMillan came through the ranks at Motherwell and made his debut in a 2-0 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead in October 2016. He went on to make 15 appearances for the Well in his debut season.
McMillan (pictured) moved on loan to Livingstone the following campaign and made seven appearances before the move was made permanent in January 2018. After helping the club win promotion to the Scottish Premier, McMillan went out on loan again – this time to Partick – in January 2019, where he stayed for the rest of the season.
McMillan made 60 appearances for Livingstone in the next three seasons before his quest for more regular football took him to Partick, for whom he signed a two-year deal.
Last season, McMillan, who plays predominantly as a full-back made 52 appearances as Partick reached the Scottish Premier play-offs. He scored in the two-legged win over Queen’s Park and in both legs against Ayr, which Partick won 8-0 on aggregate. But they were denied promotion to the top flight after losing 3-1 to Ross County in the play-off final.
This season, McMillan was again a regular in the team as Partick reached the play-off final, where they were beaten 4-3 on penalties by Raith Rovers to miss out on promotion again.
Now, it seems that McMillan feels the time is right for a new challenge and a move to Exeter seems imminent where he will link up with fellow Scots Gary Caldwell, Jack Aitchison and head physiotherapist Michael McBride.
If the move does come off, then it will not be the first time that City boss Caldwell would have raided the transfer market north of the border with the likes of Ben Purrington (Ross County), Ilmari Niskanen (Dundee United), Demetri Mitchell (Hibernian) and Jack Fitzwater (Livingston) also joining from clubs north of the border.
The Grecians are due to return to training on June 24 with their first pre-season game of the summer at Tiverton Town on Tuesday, July 9 (7.30pm).
