City Land Bayliss: Midfield Bolstered with Exciting Addition
The club have secured the signature of midfielder Tom Bayliss. He joins a growing arsenal in City’s midfield, and AllLincoln provides analysis and reaction of the signing.
Tom Bayliss signs for Lincoln City at the Soper of Lincoln Elite Performance Centre - Picture: Andrew Vaughan/Lincoln City FC
City have won the race to sign former Shrewsbury Town midfielder Tom Bayliss, following his departure from Shrewsbury.
Bayliss started his career with Championship side Coventry City and made his professional debut for the Sky Blues in November 2017 during an EFL Trophy fixture against West Brom U23’s. A month later, he made his league debut, scoring within two minutes in a 2-1 victory for his side. During Coventry’s 2017/18 promotion season, Bayliss scored six times.
He left Coventry after 62 appearances between 2017 and 2019, joining Championship side, Preston North End on a four year deal. The deal was confirmed to be around £2 million at the time. He only made 12 appearances during his time at Deepdale – the midfielder also spent time on loan at Wigan.
During the summer of 2022, Bayliss signed for Shrewsbury after his deal was terminated at Preston. He spent two years at Shrewsbury, having a very impressive 2022/23 campaign with Salop, scoring seven goals and contributing six assists. The following season, Bayliss didn’t enjoy as much success with Shrewsbury enduring a difficult season in a relegation battle.
Bayliss also featured for the England U19 side, playing twice in the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. The midfielder has also won promotion from Sky Bet League One before, making him the second promotion winner in the squad alongside fellow midfielder Ethan Hamilton.
He said: “As an attacking player you want to be in a team that is expressive and wants to go and win games of football – which is exactly what I’ve come into. You also want to play at the highest level possible and I think this club is going in that direction – the club matches my ambition.
“I’ve been in frequent contact with Micheal Skubala as well as Jez George, and I’m looking forward to getting down to work.
“Every time I’ve played at the LNER Stadium as an opposition player it has been hostile, so I’m looking forward to having the supporters right behind me and the team. I can’t wait to show them what I can do.”
Michael Skubala said: “Tom is an extremely talented player, who has shown that he can score and create goals in League One. He also demonstrated with his move earlier in his career from Coventry to Preston for a seven-figure transfer fee that he has the attributes to play higher.
“Tom has shown a desire to come to the club following our first meeting with him and we’ve been in contact with him throughout the summer.
“He has real technical ability, as well as the athleticism to play in our system, and will provide something different to our other players in the group.”
Despite a poor end to his time at Shrewsbury, it’s clear that Bayliss is a talented midfield player at League One level, with potential to go higher. At the start of his career, he was flying with Coventry and earned a big money move to Preston, which didn’t really work out for him, while his time at Shrewsbury was good for the most part, especially his first season at Croud Meadow.
The Bayliss signing makes our midfield department even stronger with Conor McGrandles’ return confirmed, while Ethan Hamilton and Ethan Erhahon are already at the club. It does seem that this is the end of the road for Ted Bishop and Danny Mandroiu, which will split opinion amongst the fanbase. Bishop is a loss, in my opinion, but not irreplaceable and the Bayliss signing certainly feels like a direct replacement for him. As for Mandroiu, I think we all knew he would be going at the end of the season – he didn’t really reach his potential, but the talent is there and he might unlock that more often in a different environment.
Bishop was a Michael Appleton player, while Danny Mandroiu was signed under Mark Kennedy. Michael Skubala will want to shape the squad in a certain way, so it’s no surprise to see them two leave and be replaced with others that Skubala wants within his team, so he can play his style.
Bayliss joining is an exciting edition to a squad that already has plenty of midfield talent. Alongside the two Ethans/Erhahon and McGrandles, he will be a massive asset for the upcoming season and if he rediscovers the form he showed for Shrewsbury in 2022/23 and Coventry when he was younger, he won’t be at League One level for long, whether that’s with us or making a move further up without us.
