Exeter City have announced Jack McMillan as their first summer signing, whilst they are still in dialogue with midfield playmaker Tom Carroll over extending his stay at St James Park. McMillan, 26, left Scottish Premier League side Livingston after making 89 appearances for the Jags and was in attendance when the Grecians returned for the start of pre-season training yesterday.

“I’m absolutely over the moon, it has been in the works for a while and it’s great to get it done and join the boys on the first day of pre-season, which is always helpful,” McMillan said. “It’s good to be in with the boys early to see where they are, and see where I’m at and it was a really positive first day.

“I’ve worked with Gary before – he was the first person to take me on loan from Livingston to Partick – and I really liked how he worked in terms of position and things I could take forward into the next season at Livingston. It’s great to see familiar faces because you already have that mutual respect for each other.

“I’m a player who likes to do the basics well, and hard work is always the minimum for me. I’m quite an attacking full-back and delivers crosses for the strikers. I always look at numbers and I hope to get lots of assists, and hopefully a few goals for the team.”

Caldwell remains on the lookout for new players and there is expected to be a fair bit of movement – certainly incoming – as he builds a squad capable of being competitive in League One in 2024/25.

One player being strongly linked with City is striker Josh Magennis, who is out of contract after leaving Wigan Athletic in the summer. The 33-year-old Northern Ireland international struck 11 times in 50 appearances for Wigan last season, mainly as a substitute, but was deemed surplus to requirements by Latics boss Shaun Maloney, a close friend of Caldwell’s.

The City chief also suggested the club are hoping to bring Luke Harris back to St James Park after his successful loan spell from Fulham. The 19-year-old was supposed to have spent all of last season with the Grecians, only for his loan move to collapse just hours before the end of the summer transfer window.

He finally arrived at the start of January and featured 21 times as Exeter surged away from relegation danger, scoring four times in his final nine appearances.

Asked how many players are likely to arrive before the transfer window shuts, Caldwell said: “I don’t know an exact figure, but still a few players. We’re still talking to a number of different players in different positions.

“We know exactly what we need. I’m not quite sure what that number is, I forget who’s signed who hasn’t! But getting Demi (Mitchell) signed was important.

“There’s other players obviously that were here last year we want to bring back and that will be important. Then, you know, the level of player we bring in from outside and the characters that we bring in from outside is really important.

“That will be ongoing right until the end of the window. I always say every window, it’s important we come out at the end of it better than we went in. I think we’ve done that in my time here and we’ll look to do that again this summer.”

Caldwell added: “Jack is someone who I have known since 2019 and have kept an eye on his career ever since then. He has so much more to give and has so much potential. He is very versatile and can play anywhere up the right hand side and as a defensive midfielder.”