Gillingham’s director of football Kenny Jackett on the signing of former Crystal Palce, Charlton and Wales international Jonny Williams

Gillingham’s newest signing could be the best player in League 2 this season – says the man who played a key role in bringing him in.

Director of Football Kenny Jackett used all of his knowhow to help entice the 29-year-old former Welsh international to the Gills.

Williams: Why Gillingham was the right choice

Williams was hot property after Swindon Town decided against offering him a new deal at the end of last season.

But with play-off promotions at both Crystal Palace (Championship) and Charlton (League 1) on his CV along with caps for Wales and appearances at all levels of the professional game, it was easy to see why the Gills fancied bringing the player back to his home county of Kent.

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A mad dash south on Wednesday – following earlier talks with Bradford – led to the Pembury-born midfielder agreeing terms with the Gills that afternoon, after completing a medical, and then showing off the latest kit design with a quickly put together montage by the club’s busy content producers.

Behind all of that was Gills’ recruitment department, headed up by Jackett, working his magic as director of football, and it’s no surprise that’s he’s expecting big things of their new man.

“I really like Johnny Williams,” he said. “I would rate him highly and being a Kent boy, he’s going to be a really good fit for us.

“He is what I call ‘League 2 ready’, he played 40 games last year for Swindon, scored 11 goals.

“I think on on his day he has the potential to be the best player in the league.

“There’s a lot of ability and he’s a little bit of a game-changer, somebody we don’t necessarily have.

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“I am excited to see him play for us. He’s a top-class signing and I do rate him highly, I think he’s a very, very good player, a good addition for us.”

The Gills weren’t expecting any more deals to be done before the end of this week but even during the meeting with Jackett, there were several missed calls on his phone.

“Jonny takes us to 17 senior pros,” he said.

“We have the juniors, but 17 senior and I would estimate us going somewhere between 21 and 24 but it is very hard to estimate. It will end up there or thereabouts, not wholesale changes.

“We want the (signings) to be key ones, first team ones, that is our priority here. But also then behind that there’ll be one or two younger players that might come in as well.”

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It’s a competitive market, as always, and the Gills have a better budget now with the Galinsons in charge. But the Gills aren’t throwing money around needlessly.

Jackett said: “You have to know what their worth is and what they can get as well. Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say, ‘we can’t do that, this is what we can do. Good luck to you.’ You have to be prepared to do that. You can’t keep going.

“Identifying the key targets and then trying to get them though is a big thing and we feel if we can make the right additions this summer, the right key additions this summer, we can have a squad that can do well at the top of the league.”

Manager Neil Harris, speaking to the club about his latest addition,said: “He has been linked with a lot of clubs all around the world but Jonny has not wavered from the fact that he wanted to be close to home.

“We have always had a good relationship as opposing player and manager.

“In the jigsaw puzzle we are putting together it is fair to say that Jonny was one of our primary targets. We have got an experienced player with brilliant pedigree.

“Jonny has had a brilliant career so far and believe it or not, he has just had two seasons where he has played more football than he has ever done in his career, which probably shows that he is just coming into the peak of it, with possibly the best years in front of him.”