Following his release from Championship side Sunderland in June, Bradley Dack has been left without a club. Gillingham manager, Mark Bonner, has revealed he has had contact with the midfielder over an audacious return to Priestfield.
Bradley Dack left Gillingham seven years ago for Blackburn.
After almost 200 appearances for Gillingham, netting 38 goals, and assisting a further 34, Dack departed for Blackburn in a £750,000 deal at just 23 years of age. (BBC Sport)
Dack became a fan favourite during his time at Gillingham with the attacking midfielder’s performances ensuring that the club would remain in the third tier for four years while he was at the club after being promoted from League Two in 2012/13, eventually returning to the fourth tier in 2022.
Blackburn Rovers looked to have grabbed themselves a bargain by signing Dack after the 23-year-old recorded an outstanding 27 goal contributions in his debut season with Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn.
Mowbray and Dack continued their successful partnership with each other the following season after Blackburn’s promotion to the Championship with Mowbray’s star man contributing almost the same number of goals and assists as he had in the previous season, despite the step up in quality.
Injuries have hampered Dack’s career.
However, an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in December 2019 unfortunately was the start of a painful and frustrating time for Bradley Dack’s career.
Dack missed 49 games of football due to the injury, only for the unthinkable to happen and the then 27-year-old suffering a second ACL injury merely three months after returning from the first occurrence of the injury.
Tony Mowbray handed Dack a second chance at Sunderland.
Despite his injury woes under Mowbray at Blackburn, the manager still displayed a fondness for his former star player, as proven by Mowbray’s decision to bring Dack to Sunderland in 2023 following the expiry of his contract at Blackburn.
Sunderland unveiled in the summer of 2023 that Dack had signed a one-year deal with The Black Cats with Dack himself explaining ‘To play in front of 40,000 every week at the Stadium of Light was a huge pull for me’. (Sunderland AFC)
The times where Dack did play in front of those 40,000 fans were few and far between however as Dack missed 26 games of the season due to two separate thigh issues as Tony Mowbray departed Sunderland.
Dack only recorded sixteen league appearances for Sunderland, grabbing a single goal and assist before Sunderland decided that the player would be departing the club at the end of his contract. (BBC Sport)
Mark Bonner has teased a Bradley Dack return to Gillingham.
It appears that another member of Dack’s footballing past, Gillingham, is willing to hand the 30-year-old another chance at redemption in football.
Gills manager, Mark Bonner, when questioned about Dack making a spectacular return to Gillingham explained, ‘I have spoken to him, but I have spoken to a lot of players in the last 10 days, so nothing other than some conversations. There is no more than that at the moment. (Kent Online)
The 38-year-old manager stated ‘We are looking to add in attacking positions, we are looking to add potentially in midfield because at the moment we are light’
Revealing that ‘Those conversations [over new signings] go on all the time, and he (Dack) is one of many that I have met in recent weeks’.