The Pilgrims made their first signing of January by bringing in Ronan Curtis on a permanent deal from Port Vale at the weekend
16:52, 12 Jan 2026Updated 16:56, 12 Jan 2026
Plymouth Argyle are actively looking to further strengthen their squad during the January transfer window but will not make signings for the sake of it, head coach Tom Cleverley has declared.
The Pilgrims have made one addition so far this month, with 29-year-old attacking player Ronan Curtis being signed on a contract until 2028 from League One rivals Port Vale.
Curtis is available to make his debut for Argyle in their Vertu Trophy round of 16 tie away to Bristol Rovers tomorrow night (7pm).
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Argyle have had defender Julio Pleguezuelo ruled out for four weeks by a calf injury so they are now looking into whether they need to bring in another player in that position this month.
Cleverley said: "The next signing is always what gets the fans excited, but the next game is where my focus is at and that will be tomorrow night.
"The next signing, yes we are working towards doing one. Like I said before, there are moving landscapes all the time.
"Pleggy's injury may trigger us to look in a different part of the pitch, and we will probably talk about that in a bit more detail. We are actively looking to strengthen the squad but we won't just do it for the sake of it."
Cleverley currently has only two strikers to select from in 14-goal top scorer Lorent Tolaj and Bim Pepple because of an ankle injury to Owen Oseni so Argyle will attempt to bring in another forward this month.
"Obviously every club in world football would like a number nine in January, so that's not going to be easy and I will not do one for the sake of it because I think Bim has been very effective and helped the team in recent games," said Cleverley.
"Tolly is, for me, the outstanding player of the league, and Owen Oseni is only a couple of weeks away from returning so I don't feel the need to rush into the wrong player in that position, but if we can strengthen we will."
He added: "I have made the mistake before saying it's going to be this on this day, or this is what we are working to, and then before you know it you have two in a different area of the pitch injured and that changes how January looks.
"We are actively looking to strengthen but, ultimately, my job is to focus on the next game."
The transfer window has seen the return to Argyle of 19-year-old attacking player Freddie Issaka from a loan spell at Bristol Rovers, where he had only limited game time.
As he has played for two teams this season - the Pilgrims and Rovers this season - he cannot join another EFL club on loan in January, but he could move to a non-League side to gain more first team experience.
Cleverley said: "Freddie will train with us for the next few days and then we will make a judgment on whether we see Freddie being able to help the team and the squad, or a non-league loan to get some games.
"I think with these lads who are 19, 20, by 20 you should have played at least 50 games at whatever level that be, and then we have a much clearer picture of where that player is going to be at in terms of representing Argyle, or above or below.
"The problem is with a lot of them they have not got to that 50-game mark so it's a little bit of the unknown. It's important Freddie plays football, likewise with Caleb Roberts, the same conversation with Zak Baker.
"So these are all conversations with clubs quite locally that we are having to get these lads good minutes if I don't feel like they are going to get significant playing time for Argyle."
Meanwhile, Cleverley confirmed there had been interest in one of his Argyle players from another club, but would not divulge any more details than that.
Cleverley said: "We have had one phone call on one of our players that I'm going to keep confidential today.
"I'm aware of one, yes, and that is the only one. Sorry to keep that a mystery and it will probably get tongues wagging but there has been interest in one of our players."
Asked whether the interest was in a player he would ideally not want to lose, Cleverley replied: "Everyone has got a price and every deal becomes a good one for the club at a certain point.
"That is the level we are working at. There is conversations going on at the minute and for sure we will react to anything that happens."
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