The sale that Plymouth Argyle fans dreaded this summer was announced on Monday, as talisman Lorent Tolaj departed the club to join Championship team Bristol City.

The 24-year-old’s remarkable rise through the EFL ranks has been one of the greatest football stories of recent years. Indeed, Tolaj has spent a year in the National League, League Two, and now League One in successive seasons, and he will now compete at the Championship level.

Almost everything nice at Home Park last season focused around the Swiss forward. During their disastrous start to the season, his goals prevented Tom Cleverley’s side from falling further behind at the bottom of the third tier.

Then, during Argyle’s fast surge to play-off contention, he forged a dangerous partnership with Bim Pepple when fit, scoring four goals and assisting four in the final six games to try to lift them into the top six.

Finally, when their race fell just short, a move to the second tier was unavoidable, after finishing the season with 18 goals and 8 assists in just 33 league appearances, and they’ve made at least £4 million in the sale to Bristol City, with add-ons that might see them make even more.

Tom Cleverley offers an early update on Lorent Tolaj’s replacement.

There are obviously large shoes to fill now that Tolaj has departed Home Park.

Bim Pepple and Owen Oseni are the club’s only recognised strikers, and while Pepple has had a fantastic season in his own right and Oseni has the potential to improve with more game time, Plymouth manager Tom Cleverley is still looking for a new frontman to replace the free-scoring Swissman.

According to Plymouth Live, Cleverley admitted that conversations about a Tolaj replacement began “months ago,” with the expectation that the 24-year-old would not be staying for another year. Now, the wheels can be set in action for the replacement.We have definitely contacted a club about a player we’re interested in. The discussions are ongoing, but I wouldn’t say anything is finalised just yet,” the head coach said after a 1-0 victory over Torquay United on Tuesday.

“I’m sorry I can’t give much more than that at this point, but the conversations started months ago for the potential day that this happened [Tolaj leaving] because he’s a good player. In my opinion, he’s a Championship striker.”

In the second half of the previous season, Cleverley enjoyed using a 4-4-2 system, which coincided with their ascent up the League One standings.

The 36-year-old would prefer to add some quality depth this summer by bringing in a couple strikers, but Argyle will instead choose to spend money on one frontman of “real quality.”Cleverley continued, “I think Caleb Watts is a solid alternative there [up front]. “Listen, we are greedy as head coaches, I’d love two strikers, but I have got a budget to work towards and that would be me probably overspending that. “We’ll be aiming for a really good striker, so I believe we’ll have one.”

Tom Cleverley tells Plymouth Argyle supporters who to go fetch in response to a striker update.

Plymouth supporters are speculating about which striker might end up joining the Pilgrims because Tom Cleverley hasn’t revealed much about who they are targeting to replace Tolaj this summer.

However, there is a nearly unanimous online reaction to the Plymouth Live article that was shared on X.”Exeter Jayden,” a fan commented. “Bring Wareham,” someone else said. “Bring me Wareham,” said a third.

Even though Jayden Wareham is currently the frontman for Exeter City, Plymouth supporters still want him to cross the Devon derby lines and play for their team the following season.

In his first season at St James Park, the 23-year-old scored 22 goals across all competitions, but he was unable to prevent the Grecians from dropping into League Two, ending their four-year run in the third division.

Given his obvious quality, it’s highly likely that Wareham won’t be staying in the fourth division for a season. With a spot available at Plymouth and the necessary funds from the Tolaj sale, a move wouldn’t be out of the question.

Argyle supporters would be even happier if another Exeter attacker switched to Plymouth, as they were when Caleb Watts crossed enemy lines to Home Park this time last summer.