Gillingham fans have had to be patient, but the club have finally announced the signing of striker Macauley Bonne.

The former Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town and Colchester United forward has put pen to paper on a deal having been training with the club for the past few weeks.

Bonne, who began his career in the academy at Ipswich Town before joining Colchester, is a former Zimbabwe international and won promotion from the National League with Leyton Orient in 2019.

He made his professional debut for Colchester in October 2013, coming on as a second half substitute against Shrewsbury at Greenhous Meadow in a 1-1 draw. He netted his first goal four days later at home to Peterborough United.

Following loan spells at Woking and Lincoln he joined Orient in the summer of 2017 and scored 47 times in 91 appearances, alerting the attentions of QPR who paid an undisclosed fee for his services in October 2020.

He spent the 2021/22 on loan at Ipswich, netting 12 times in 46 games before returning to The Valley in January on a deal that concluded in the summer.

Bonne has been assigned shirt number 45 and is expected to be in the squad for Saturday’s League Two clash with Accrington Stanley at Priestfield.

The 27 year old striker is believed to have signed an initial one year deal with an option on both sides to extend further.