The striker who recently put five goals past Gillingham is being linked with a move to Priestfield again following Barnet’s confirmed retained list.
Gillingham were strongly linked with a move for 26-year-old Callum Stead in January, but nothing materialised then. The forward ended up scoring a hatful of goals against The Gills in an embarrassing day out at The Hive for Gareth Ainsworth’s men.
Stead scored a 10-minute hat-trick and added a fourth before half an hour had been played. He scored Barnet’s sixth goal in the 6-2 rout in Gillingham’s penultimate game of a disappointing campaign.
Ainsworth has a busy summer ahead and has room for several attacking additions after releasing the likes of Elliott Nevitt, Josh Andrews, Marcus Wyllie and Jonny Williams.
Stead’s name is again being lined with the club but the Gills would face competition for his signature, with speculation that Leyton Orient have shown some interest.
Barnet recently issued their retained list but opted against issuing a list of those released or offered new deals. Stead is understood to be a free agent this summer.
Stead finished this season with 15 goals in 37 appearances, with a large chunk of those against the Gills. He’s also netted in the 1-1 draw at Priestfield earlier in the season.
His 18 goals in the previous campaign helped Barnet win promotion from the National League.
Some Gills fans, meanwhile, have called for a return for cult favourite Jorge Hurtado, after the 22-year-old endured a frustrating loan spell with Colombian side Millonarios.
Watford appear open to offers for the livewire forward who made a big impression with the Gills in a short space of time.
He made three substitute appearances for the Gills in February 2024, but was injured during a thrilling display against Swindon Town and returned to his parent club for treatment. He never came back after a lengthy lay-off.
The Gills may have moved on since then, but supporters will be hoping for a boost on the transfer front in what will be an important period for Ainsworth.
Last season went badly, and the recruitment needs to be right this time around.
The Gills have added to their recruitment department with the addition of Billy Mulley, who was previously working as an academy scout at Tottenham Hotspur.
He was previously a first-team scout at Millwall and says in his Linkedin profile that he has “a strong interest in how data analytics can be integrated into recruitment and performance workflows.”
