TEDDY Davey will begin the 2022-23 campaign as a Dolphin, even if manager Tom Killick believes he can do better than Poole Town.

19-year-old Davey was handed his first taste of senior football on loan with Poole last term from Premier League Southampton, initially impressing Killick after joining in November.

COVID and injury blighted his spell at the BlackGold Stadium, but when it was confirmed Davey would not be offered new terms at Saints, Poole became interested in keeping Davey long term.

Earlier this month, Killick had shared with the Daily Echo that there was a major roadblock in the way of retaining the midfielder, as after his release from Southampton, he has moved back to his Guildford home in Surrey.

However, both parties have agreed to start the season together, even if the move eventually proves temporary.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Killick relayed: “I’ve just agreed with Teddy that he's going to start season off (with us).

“I mean, I hope for the kid’s sake that he ends up doing a bit better than us.

”He's an ambitious young lad, has been released from a Premier League club, but we'll look after him.

“I think he feels relaxed with us and there's an affection, a mutual sort of affection.

“So I think at the moment it suits us to have him and it suits him to be with us.

”And then, as I say, I hope from his point of view that he goes on to bigger and better things, but we'll see how it develops.”

Whilst Poole’s summer business has slowed after the initial big incomings of Luke Cairney, Toby Holmes and Wes Fogden, the Daily Echo understands there is still room in the budget for further signings.

Strengthening the defence remains Killick’s priority, and the deal for Davey will not impact further signings this summer.

“We got a couple missing first game of the season already, so we're just able to get Teddy in. ”And money is not his driving motivation at the moment. ”Against Weymouth, he got really tired because he hasn’t really trained.

“He played 45 minutes against Hamworthy Rec without any real training, having been out injured for quite a while now.

“He's (played against Weymouth), baking hot day and he played about 60, 70 minutes, but I thought if you looked at him first-half, and even flashes in that second, I just thought he looked very bright. So that bodes well.”