Gillingham want to sign striker Mikael Mandron but he’s in demand.

The former Colchester United forward has been training with the Gills throughout the summer.

He scored from the penalty spot for Gillingham against Millwall at the weekend and also in the 4-0 win over Folkestone.

The club are negotiating with his agent over a deal.

“We hope he will stay,” said Evans.

“I have made it clear we would like to keep him. The agent is in talks with the chairman (Paul Scally) and we will see where those chats go in the next 24-48 hours. We are hopeful.”

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Mandron was an unused sub against Dover on Tuesday night.

Evans tried to sign him last summer when he was manager of Peterborough and the player has got several other admirers in the division.

Evans said: “It’s amazing, He comes to us for a few weeks and then all of a sudden three or four League 1 clubs crop up and want him but we hope we can get it done.”

Evans, meanwhile, is still pursuing a striker from the higher leagues.

He recently revealed that the Gills had put in a cash bid for an unnamed player. That has yet to be accepted and the fee might not be enough but a loan deal could instead be arranged. That is something under consideration.

Whether the player leaves his current club, however, is dependent on bringing in new faces themselves.

“We were told that their club is running late,” Evans said.

“They can’t get the one or two in. He is available to us and they would like him to come here but we are at the mercy of them.

“I had a really good meeting with their sporting director and spoke not only about him but a couple of other players that might be potentially available.

“We are trying to do three or four (new signings) but whether we can do them before we kick off against Doncaster (on Saturday, August 3) remains to be seen, but hopefully two before the weekend.”

Evans, meanwhile, looks to be moving fast in replacing departed Nathan Thomas.

He was told by Gills chairman Mr Scally on Tuesday that a deal is on for the man he wants.

Evans said: “The wide player the chairman thinks he is getting (us) was the first wide player we went for. (At the time) we just couldn’t get it there.

"We revisited it and thankfully he was still available.”

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