The real reason Adam Randell is leaving Plymouth Argyle as Tom Cleverley issues honest verdict on move

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Plymouth have recently appointed Tom Cleverley as the club’s new head coach, who will be without crucial Argyle star Adam Randell for his first season in charge.

Tom Cleverley was chosen as Miron Muslic’s replacement at Plymouth Argyle earlier this month, and the former Manchester United midfielder is facing a testing first summer at Home Park.

Off the field, matters in the boardroom are exciting with Real Madrid icon Gareth Bale involved in a potential Plymouth takeover, as the club look to emulate the success of celebrity-backed Birmingham City and Wrexham.

Unfortunately for Cleverley, the summer transfer window has not been kind to Plymouth so far, with forward Ryan Hardie’s transfer to Wrexham and fellow frontman Mustapha Bundu moving on as a free agent after rejecting a new deal.

Another crucial Argyle star set to depart is midfielder Adam Randell, and EFL Analysis understands why Cleverley is resigned to losing the 24-year-old.

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Why Adam Randell is leaving Plymouth Argyle amid Bristol City links

Randell featured 39 times in League One last season for Argyle, scoring once and assisting three times, but he could not help his boyhood side to Championship safety.

Widespread reports have mooted Randell with a move to Bristol City in the wake of Gerhard Struber’s appointment.

In the summer of 2023, following the club’s promotion back to the Championship, Randell penned a new deal at Plymouth by extending his stay until next summer.

EFL Analysis is told, as per our Chief Football correspondent Graeme Bailey, that Plymouth offered Randell a new deal, and that Cleverley wanted him to stay, but that he made up his mind to go due to the relegation release clause in his contract.

Randell’s current Argyle contract is set to expire in the summer of 2026, but as a result of the relegation clause in his contract, the newly-appointed head coach is resigned to losing Randell this summer.

With the homegrown talent poised for a Bristol City move this summer, Cleverley has lifted the lid on how he feels about Randell’s imminent departure.

Via the BBC, Cleverley said: “You’re going to have a lot of interest, and especially when there’s buy-out clauses and things like that, so there’s a strong possibility that that happens.

“He’s a player that I really admire. When we played Plymouth in the cup last year and speaking to Wayne (Rooney), he spoke really highly of him and being a midfielder myself he’s someone who I’ve paid a lot of attention to over the last 10 months.

“I’m disappointed I’m not able to work with him but I’ll never stand in the way of anyone wanting to play at the top level.”

With Randell poised to follow Hardie and Bundu out of the Argyle exit doors, the prospects for Cleverley’s first season in charge are concerning ahead of the 2025/26 League One campaign.

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Tom Cleverley facing glaring Plymouth Argyle issue amid summer transfer window

The first summer transfer window in charge at Home Park for Cleverley has been a testing time for the former Watford boss.

Muslic has targeted Nikola Katic for Schalke, following his impressive loan spell at Argyle last summer, as the departed boss attempts to scupper a potential permanent move by Plymouth.

However, the most glaring area of concern for Cleverley currently lies within the forward positions.

When adding up the combined goals and assists between Randell, Hardie, and Bundu for last season, they combined to score or create 33 of Plymouth’s 51 League One goals in the 2024/25 campaign.

Those 33 combined goals and assists constitute 65% of Plymouth’s Championship goals last season.

Three Hardie replacements for Plymouth have been mooted in the wake of his departure to Wrexham, but it remains to be seen whether the Argyle transfer team can replace such a prolific proven operator.

If the Plymouth transfer team fails to fill the goalscoring and creative void left by the departures of the aforementioned trio, Cleverley will face a thankless task in his first season in charge as he attempts to mastermind an automatic promotion.