The Mariners are delighted to confirm the signings of goalkeepers Harvey Cartwright and Jake Eastwood from Hull City and Sheffield United, respectively.
21-year-old Cartwright joins on a season-long loan from the Sky Bet Championship club while Eastwood arrives from the newly-promoted Premier League side for an undisclosed fee and has signed a two-year deal.
Grimsby-born Cartwright is a highly-rated young keeper and has represented England at under-18 and under-20 level already during his career. After coming through the youth setup with Hull City, he made his professional debut in the EFL Trophy in September 2020 and experienced loan spells with Barton Town, Gainsborough Trinity and Peterborough United before spending the second half of last season with Sky Bet League One side Wycombe Wanderers.
Cartwright will join up with the Mariners squad from 13th July after returning from Hull City’s pre-season training camp in Turkey.
Eastwood arrives for his second spell as a Mariner, having previously made seven league appearances for the Club during the 2020/21 season. The 26-year-old came through the academy system at Sheffield United, making his debut for the Blades in August 2017 in a 3-2 League Cup victory over Walsall.
Several loan spells have followed, including with the likes of Kilmarnock, Portsmouth and Rochdale, before now signing a two-year contract ahead of a campaign that will see him play in front of the Town fanbase for the first time after his first spell came during lockdown.
On their arrivals, Mariners boss Paul Hurst said: “I’m delighted to have brought Jake to the Club. I’ve worked with him on two previous occasions, once at Grimsby when he did well before getting an injury and was then concussed so it perhaps wasn’t the luckiest time of his career to date! Hopefully, that won’t be the case moving forward.
“I think he is a keeper that has got loads of potential and, despite being 26, he should realistically have many, many years ahead of him. I think he has matured, certainly from speaking to him, and I feel that with Steve Croudson’s help, advice and mentorship that he can go on to be a really good goalkeeper because he’s got all the attributes there. It’s just a case of putting it all together.
“On Harvey, we nearly brought him to the Club last season but that didn’t quite happen. I think our fans will certainly know the name, he was in our academy initially before being sold to Hull City.
“He’s a highly thought of keeper and he has been involved with England in the younger age groups and he has had a couple of loans that haven’t quite gone to plan.
“He got injured when he was at Peterborough and then, at Wycombe, he perhaps didn’t play as much as he would have liked and it wasn’t quite the situation he thought he was going into.
“Coming here, certainly, the plan is for him to get more gametime than what he has had in those two previous loans. There’s no guarantees, though, and he knows that but, certainly, with him and Jake joining the Club, I’ve got some real competition there and that’s what I have wanted.
“I don’t view the goalkeeping position as any different than any other area of the pitch in that regard and, with Harvey and Jake, I’m delighted to have got two really good goalkeepers and I’m confident that there will be good competition there.”
After signing a deal to play for his hometown club, Cartwright added: “I’m really happy to be here. It’s an area I know very well and I’ve been a massive fan of the club since I was a kid and this is something I’ve dreamed of from when I was a young fan.
“You never really think you’re going to get to play so now I’m massively proud to come here on loan and have that opportunity.”
Eastwood added: “I’m really pleased to get it over the line and pleased to be here. It’s a great opportunity for me.
“I’ve obviously been here before but that was in the middle of Covid so I didn’t really get a great experience of being here and that was due to there being no fans as well as there being no true interaction with even the players or staff at the training ground.
“I’m sure it will be a completely different experience.
“As soon as I heard that the manager was interested, I knew it was going to be a really good option for me. I’ve obviously played for him before, both at Scunthorpe and here, and I really enjoyed those spells so I’m looking forward to working with him again.”
Are you interested in being the kit sponsor for either of our two new goalkeepers? If so, please contact our Commercial Manager Matthew Disley by emailing [email protected].
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