JACK Hoey and Ade Olumuyiwa have left Weymouth to join AFC Totton on permanent deals, writes Neil Walton.

Hoey and Olumuyiwa are both considered promising young talents, although the duo struggled for game time in Weymouth's Vanarama National League season.

This formed part of the Terras' reasoning for furloughing them in January.

The Dorset Echo understands Weymouth have received a small fee for Hoey.

Hoey made 13 career appearances for Weymouth, scoring once, while Olumuyiwa pulled on the claret and blue jersey 10 times.

Speaking to the Dorset Echo, vice-chairman Paul Maitland explained the circumstances around their exit.

On Hoey, he said: "Jack's a smashing lad, a great character who through no fault of his own has found game time difficult to come by here.

"We felt it was only right with Jack to explore his options and see what was out there for him.

"He's never let us down when he's been involved and is another one you can't speak highly enough of.

"The injury on loan at Dorchester hampered his progression a little bit and with Covid it's been really hard enabling Jack to become a prominent player for us.

"He's a player with undoubted ability who I'm sure will go and do very well at Totton.

"Going to Totton with Brett Williams and Stephane Zubar will have been an attraction to Jack.

"I know he was sought after by a lot of clubs locally, but with where he lives Totton makes the most sense for him.

"They're looking at developing a side to progress into the Southern Prem and the National (League) South.

"We wish him well and it will be interesting to watch how his career progresses now."

Maitland referenced injury problems as a factor in Olumuyiwa's lack of match minutes at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

He said: "Ade had an unfortunate couple of injuries, particularly this season, and a knee injury that Ade will have to look after for the time being.

"When he came to the club, he came as what we perceived to be a young talented player with potential.

"He is still to reach that potential and that is partly down to injury. But he never let the club down.

"By the time he became fit we'd obviously taken Jacob Mensah and Dom Revan and our defensive record improved.

"He didn't do anything to be left out. Had he got fit two or three weeks earlier, he may well have had the opportunity to nail down a place.

"A bit like Jack, he's probably doing the right thing by going to a club where really they should be looking at playing 40 games next season.

"That will be great for their own development.

"From speaking to Ade I know he's had options to move to a higher level (than Totton), but it's a very sensible decision to make sure he gets game time."

The move represents a drop of three divisions for the pair, with Totton plying their trade in the Southern League Division One South.

Totton have strong links to Weymouth, with current assistant-boss Louis Langdown managing the Stags for three years.

Former players Williams and Zubar joined the Stags for the 2020-21 campaign.