BILLERICAY Town have denied signing former Arsenal and England youth international Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.

The 27-year-old played for Billericay against Maidstone United in a pre-season friendly tonight and had appeared to be the club's latest recruit.

But the striker took to Instagram following the final whistle, saying 'I have NOT signed for Billericay, just to make that clear!!!'

Following this, the club said on its social media channels: "To be clear we haven’t signed or made any form of statement to say Jay has signed! We are looking at him as he is us, negotiations are ongoing, keep an eye on the social pages for updates."

It comes two days after owner Glenn Tamplin said on Twitter that he had "signed two more" to his squad - with striker Adam Coombes making the move to the AGP Arena.

Tamplin posted a picture of himself and Emmanuel-Thomas online earlier today with the club account adding 'Please say hello to ex Gillingham, MK Dons, QPR, Bristol City, Ipswich Town, Cardiff City and Arsenal forward Jay Emmanuel-Thomas'.

Billericay were 3-1 winners at Maidstone tonight, with Coombes, Dean Inman and Moses Emmanuel on target.