The £60k Plymouth Argyle gamble that could seriously pay off – or not

Plymouth Argyle have completed the bargain signing of Owen Oseni from St. Mirren.

It’s rare that a recent Championship club, like the Pilgrims, is able to seal deals for players for just £60,000 that could genuinely have an impact on the first team. That is what Plymouth has with Oseni.

Football League World exclusively reported that Tom Cleverley’s side was in talks to sign the St. Mirren center forward earlier this week. It was later stated by Sky Sports that a fee had been agreed upon between the Scottish side and Oseni’s League One suitors. The amount that they are set to pay: just £60,000—half of what the Saints reportedly paid for him in January.

 

The 22-year-old Irishman, who signed a three-year deal with the Scottish Premiership outfit after he made his move north of the border from National League side Gateshead, had an impressive first half of the 2024/25 campaign.

He netted a dozen goals in 24 appearances for the Heed, displaying his higher-level pedigree, having been involved with Derby County’s youth setup prior to moving to the northeast.

Things obviously didn’t work for him with St. Mirren. 10 appearances, zero starts, and not even a shot at goal later, Oseni is set to head from one side of the UK to the other, with a deal now confirmed.

 

Plymouth’s Owen Oseni punt has a lot of potential

He was a very highly rated player in the National League before getting his move, displaying great pace and technical ability. His conversion rate of 21% is what should most encourage Plymouth supporters about this £60,000 deal. They are now without their previous premier goalscorer, Ryan Hardie, who joined Wrexham earlier in the summer for £700,000.

The Scottish talisman has a much more proven record than the soon-to-be 22-year-old new Argyle man, but the goals are going to have to come from somewhere, and Oseni could make up one of a few players that cover for what Hardie offered.

As the old saying goes, the one thing that never changes in football is where the goal is. Oseni obviously knows how to find the back of the net.

Cleverley is also used to working with raw prospects similar to him from the manager’s time with Watford. He should be able to extract the quality out of Oseni like he did for a number of youngsters while working at Vicarage Road.

There are potential downsides to Owen Oseni’s Plymouth move

It’s a move with very little risk, financially. The problems will come if Plymouth expects the Irishman to step into Hardie’s position and do exactly what he did. That won’t happen.

They are different players. Argyle’s former striker is your more prototypical center forward. Oseni isn’t as much of a fox in the box, although he does get himself into good positions to score because of his running in behind.

 

What may concern supporters most is St. Mirren’s willingness to let him leave for half of what they supposedly paid for him, just six months into his multi-year deal with them. £120,000 in today’s game is not much, but the length of the contract suggested that they believed he could be an influential player for a long time, and Oseni obviously didn’t display that sort of potential.

That does happen in sports sometimes. Being in the right environment, the right place at the right time, can massively boost your prospects compared to being somewhere that you don’t feel settled in or doesn’t fit you well.

There’s no guarantee Oseni will click in Devon either, but it won’t haunt them for years to come if he doesn’t prove to be up to the standard of League One. The option of a National League loan will always be open to them.