Sought after Annear makes long move north

Annear, 22, moves from his native Cornwall, and has most recently played for Plymouth Parkway in the Western League, scoring 19 goals in 17 games last season.

His previous clubs include Porthleven, Newquay and Falmouth, and he attracted significant interest during the summer.

He said: “I’ve been speaking to Lee (Picton) and Graham (Fenton) all the way through the summer and came to the conclusion that this would be a good place for me to kick on and try to get better.

“Before I came here I had a couple of other options on the table.

“I just wanted to make the correct decision and I feel like this is the place to be.

“It’s quite a long way away from home but sometimes you have to make sacrifices to try to better yourself.

“Every year I’ve stepped up leagues to try to better myself and now this opportunity has come up for me.

“My main aim has always been to play as high as I possibly can.

“I’ve had really good chats with Lee and he has explained the ambitions of the club, which are the same as mine.”

Annear made his debut for Shields as a second half substitute in the 4-1 win over Bamber Bridge at the weekend.

South Shields joint manager Lee Picton said: “We’re delighted to bring Jordan into the group.

“We’ve seen him play with our own eyes and for a young player, he has a good well-rounded skill set for a centre forward and ticks a lot of boxes that we are looking for.

“He has had quite a bit of interest from Football League clubs as well as clubs further up the non-league pyramid during the summer, but we have been patient and waited for our opportunity.

“Thankfully the opportunity to bring him into the squad has now come and we are really looking forward to seeing him hopefully score many goals for us moving forward.”