FORMER Saints trainee Sam Argent has signed non-contract forms for Conference South outfit Basingstoke Town.

The 22-year-old Basingstoke-born frontman joins Liam Enver-Marum, Manny Williams, Chris Flood and fellow new signing Lloyd Macklin - formerly of Swindon and Torqauy - in a healthy looking strike force at Town’s newly-named Soccer AM Stadium.

Argent started out as a right-back with Saints and Hayes & Yeading United before moving up front and banging in goals galore for Whitchurch United and Hartley Wintney.

Basingstoke boss Jason Bristow said: “A lot of people are keen to see Sam do well here and I am certainly one of them.

“He has scored for fun at lower levels and we watched him a couple of times last year.

“We have been impressed with his attitude and work-rate as well as his goals. We are pleased to have him in the squad and hopefully he will continue to get better.”

Argent joined Saints as an under-11 and spent almost decade at the club.

He was a pro for three years, trained under Alan Pardew and Nigel Adkins, and was in the same youth/reserves team as England star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

His career has been hampered by injuries, however, and it was Whitchurch who helped him on the road to recovery after he had broken his leg in his very first game for Winchester City.

Pleasingly, all five strikers have found the back of the net during pre-season. Williams, Macklin and Argent were on target as Town beat Hungerford 3-1 last Thursday, while Flood – a summer signing from Winchester - gave the hosts an early lead as they drew 1-1 with Newport County on Tuesday.

Former Aldershot, AFC Totton and Gosport Borough midfielder Ryan Scott was the only other triallist to feature against Newport, with Bristow set to make a decision on his future in the coming days.