STRIKER Akpo Sodje became the sixth player to leave Darlington this week when he agreed to join League One side Port Vale.

The 25-year-old was out of contract and had been offered a new deal but the Valiants doubled Quakers' offer so Sodje opted for a move to Vale Park, where he has signed a two-year contract.

Although always in the Darlington squad since signing from Huddersfield Town last year, Sodje was not a regular starter and his goals were even less frequent, scoring eight in 39 games last season.

As Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu left mid-season, Sodje ended the campaign as top scorer but three of those goals came in one game.

His departure is not a huge shock, though manager David Hodgson admits he was surprised to see him move to Port Vale.

He said: "It is a fantastic move for him but it did come a little bit out of the blue because Notts County were in for him.

"Is he equipped for League One? Well, he has aerial ability, he is not always consistent but technically he has improved enormously with getting his first touch right and bringing others into the game.

"He's willing and prepared to learn and when you go up a level you're playing with better players, so hopefully he'll learn from them.

"They have offered him double what we offered and we had offered a rise on what he was on last year. We could never compete with them financially."

Sodje's switch to Vale left Notts County manager Gudjon Thordarson stunned, claiming the striker reneged on a verbal agreement.

"I am upset because he came in last week, agreed a deal and shook hands, " said Thordarson.

"He has now pulled out. He was going back up to Darlington to sort things out, but now the agreement has been broken."

Vale boss Martin Foyle admitted his new signing is not the finished article but says former England boss Glenn Hoddle is an admirer.

He said: "I know Wolves were interested in him last year. I have spoken to Glenn Hoddle about him and he was very close to making an enquiry about him and there are other clubs who have had a sniff.

"He has something we haven't got at the moment, the pace for going over the top.

"We can't buy players who are going to come in and score 25 goals just like that - we have to buy players and improve them."

Sodje follows Jonjo Dickman, Adrian Webster, Matty Appleby, Joe Kendrick and Guy Bates out of the door while the futures of Matt Clarke and Ryan Valentine remain unclear, though Hodgson expects to hold talks with Clarke on Monday.