Former Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers forward Jay Emmanuel-Thomas could drop down four divisions to join ambitious National League South club Billericay Town.
The 27-year-old Forest Gate-born hotshot is without a club after leaving QPR at the end of last season and featured for non-league Ricay in a 3-1 pre-season friendly win over Maidstone United at the Gallagher Stadium on Friday evening.
Some press reports had indicated that Emmanuel-Thomas had signed for Billericay Town, however, the player confirmed that he was still a free agent late last night while the club have indicated that initial talks between both parties are ongoing with any deal some way away.
Club statement – Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, to be clear we haven’t signed or made any form of statement to say Jay has signed! we are looking at him as he is us, negotiations are ongoing, keep an eye on the social pages for updates pic.twitter.com/7eNLaampJE
— Billericay Town FC (@BTFC) July 20, 2018
The striker came through the academy system at English Premier League giants Arsenal but made just five senior appearances for The Gunners while he was loaned out to Blackpool, Doncaster Rovers and Cardiff City.
In summer 2011, the player joined Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee and Emmanuel-Thomas was a regular for The Tractor Boys during his two-year stay at Portman Road. A move to Bristol City followed, where the striker won a Sky Bet League One and Football League Trophy double in 2014/2015, before he joined QPR where he struggled to make any kind of impact.
Emmanuel-Thomas didn’t make a single senior footballing appearance in 2017/2018 and the player will now be keen to get his career back on track with a new club.
