Colchester United have re-signed the midfielder Oscar Thorn from Lincoln City on a season-long loan.
The 22-year-old previously played for Colchester after joining from Norwich in January 2023, making 35 League Two appearances for the club before leaving for Lincoln last summer on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made five appearances, all from the bench, for Lincoln in League One last season as they won the title.
Thorn is Danny Cowley's seventh signing of the summer window, following the arrivals of defenders Sean Raggett and Jake Leake and midfielder Paul Digby, among others. Colchester finished 12th in League Two last season, and Cowley has said his squad remains "quite skinny" after a summer of departures.
"Recruitment is really tough at the moment, there's no hiding place from that," Cowley said last month. "We know what we want. We're not willing to compromise at the moment but we are trying to stay as brave as we can to get the players that we want. This was always going to be a tougher summer than last year. Last year we were in contract, whereas this year we had a lot coming out. We're working hard to find the players to complement the group."