Tranmere are expected to announce the signing of experienced Carlisle defender Mark Ellis this week who is poised to join on a free transfer.
Should the move go through as expected, Ellis will become Tranmere’s first summer signing since the club secured a return to the Football League last weekend.
The centre back was linked with a move to Prenton Park in January and again in March, but nothing materialised and instead Forest Green’s Manny Monthe came in on loan.
Ellis has been offered a new contract by Carlisle but is yet to sign it, and despite interest from elsewhere, Rovers look to be on the verge of completing the deal with an announcement likely in the coming days.
He may not be an entirely new face for those eagle-eyed Tranmere fans who have watched the play-off final back on TV. As the Rovers players returned down the steps from the royal box, several stopped to greet someone on the way down. It now seems as though it was Ellis that they greeted, perhaps indicating it’s been a done deal for at least a week or two.
Ellis is no stranger to Micky Mellon either having formed a part of Mellon’s Shrewsbury team that won promotion from League Two.
He was also a part of the Forest Green team that won promotion from the National League in 2016/17, playing the full 90 minutes at Wembley against Tranmere.
UPDATE: 21st May, 5:01pm: Since publishing this article, Mark Ellis has been confirmed as a Tranmere Rovers player, signing a two-year contract. Read the full story here.
