Newport County have cashed in on star man Craig Reid, sealing a deal that caretaker boss Tim Harris believes is in "everybody’s best interests."

In a scarcely credible evening of sensational late drama, the Exiles signed two players, sold their star striker and kept their vice-captain after a surprising U-turn.

The sale of Reid is a record deal for Newport County AFC and though undisclosed, is understood by the Argus to be six figures with Reid penning a deal with League Two Stevenage shortly before 9pm last night.

In return, Stevenage have agreed to loan County two strikers, Yemi Odubade and the returning Charlie Griffin, a former favourite with the Spytty Park faithful.

Odubabe is a former Oxford man and scored 14 league goals in 24 appearances last term, with Griffin one of the lower leagues most prolific marksman in recent seasons.

Griffin is out of contract at the end of the season and it is understood that his tenure at Spytty Park is likely to extend beyond the end of the current campaign.

However, the departure of Reid will still sting County fans, the number nine scoring 19 goals this term after notching 27 goals in County’s Conference South winning campaign last season, scoring 67 goals for the club in just over three years.

"This is a deal that we didn’t even consider 48 hours ago, we wanted Craig to stay and were discussing a new contract," director Matt Southall explained.

"However, it became clear that several Football League clubs were interested in Craig and he felt that if an opportunity arose that he felt right came about, he’d like to talk to the interested parties.

"We’ve done a deal with Stevenage that is right for us and right for Craig and we are thrilled to have concluded it in the right way in a professional and amicable manner.

"We feel that the money in this instance was a fair evaluation considering we are also getting two strikers with a fantastic pedigree of goalscoring at Conference and League Two level."

Boss Harris was keen to renew acquaintances with Griffin.

"I worked with Charlie at Forest Green, he’s a natural goalscorer and we’ve managed to get the two strikers who fired Stevenage to the Football League to boot as well.

"In addition to that, we give Craig the chance to play in the Football League. For me, that’s a brilliant all round package.

"I have no doubt that he’ll be a success at his new club but I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of us getting in two quality replacements.

"These are guys who have been there, done it and they’ve got the Conference medals to prove it."

Further good news for Harris is that his hard work in trying to convince Jamie Collins to stay at the club appears to have paid off.

Collins is expected at Spytty Park today and the Argus understands it is to pen a new deal with the club.

"Jamie is thrilled to be putting the last few weeks behind him and helping us to push for promotion," Southall said.

The Exiles are promising more signings this week, revealing so on their twitter feed. The Argus revealed last week that the Exiles have another behind doors friendly planned to look at triallists.