James Wilson lifts lid on Plymouth Argyle exit after Bristol Rovers transfer

James Wilson has spoken out for the first time after making the decision to leave Plymouth Argyle for Bristol Rovers.

He is the first signing of the summer with Joey Barton eyeing up four more recruits before pre-season begins at a Royal Commandos base next week. Wilson joins having left League One champions Plymouth Argyle, despite receiving a contract offer from the Championship club.

BristolLive reported that Wycombe Wanderers made an attempt to sign him but were unsuccessful. They added that Bolton Wanderers and Swindon Town also made moves, but he committed to Rovers.

“I’m really excited to be here,” said Wilson in an interview with the club. There’s a lot of reasons why it didn’t work out at Plymouth. I’m really excited to get going and it’s a great club to be at.

“I’ve got a lot of friends and family around the area, not too far away and it was a massive pulling point. It wasn’t really, always been about football decisions in my career, and it was defiinitely a footballing decision.

He added: “I know loads about the fan base, every time I’ve played at Bristol it’s always been really tough game. The management, they’ve got a good lot of people around the club.

“The players when I noticed when we played them this season they’ve got some really talented players. Hopefully I can add to that.

“I think that this season at the Mem that is going to be a major thing getting our home form really good, and the fans can help that massively. “

He returns to the city of Bristol, having started his career with Bristol City, after coming through their academy. He is a two-time League One winner, with success at Plymouth last year, as well as Sheffield United in 2017. He’s also a two-time League Two winner with Brentford and Lincoln City, and won the EFL Trophy with Lincoln in 2018.

Wilson has had a 15-year playing career and has amassed 376 appearances. He has played mainly in League One, playing 262 times with seven goals and eight assists.

When asked about his ambitions for the upcoming campaign, he said: “There’s no reason why we can’t be amongst it this season with the players in the squad. “I think promotion at the end of the day would be massive for the club. It’s definitely not out of sight.

“If everyone is pulling in the right direction there’s no reason we can’t achieve something similar. It’s all to do to do with hard work, and the squad is massive. It really does take everyone being on the same page, and everyone pulling in the same direction.”