Stockport County have already seen a number of well-regarded first-team players exit Edgeley Park this summer.
The most surprising of the departees was defender Fraser Horsfall, who was Dave Challinor’s most senior centre-back last season but left on a free upon expiry of his contract to join Blackpool.
He joined Will Collar, Ibby Touray and Kyle Knoyle in looking for a challenge beyond the Hatters, all of whom had a strong influence on the senior squad last term.
Having waved goodbye to those players, Football League World looks at three other stars the Hatters must keep hold of heading into next season…
Ethan Pye
Having settled into League One football, as a centre-back, without an issue at just 21 years old, County fans have been bracing themselves for interest in Ethan Pye for some time now.
He’s young, strong in a challenge, good on the ball, moves well and, crucially, is left-footed, meaning he hits almost every desirable trait clubs are looking for in a new defender.
With owner Mark Stott having put on record his ambition for County to platform talented youth and then sell them on for a profit, it seems likely a big bid could prove tempting.
But Horsfall and Pye were the two players County’s defence was built around last season.
With Brad Hills returning to Norwich from his loan spell, and Touray and Knoyle both gone, any move away for Pye would see the Hatters having to construct almost an entirely new defensive unit in one season, with no guarantee everyone gels.
Unless County receive an enormous bid, they must use the power of Pye’s contract, running until 2027, to keep him at the club this summer.
Lewis Bate
Much like Pye, with the likes of Horsfall, Touray and Collar now gone, County have lost a lot of senior experience who were also no doubt leaders in the dressing room.
Despite being only 22 years old, Challinor clearly recognised those traits in Lewis Bate, signed on a free last season after he left Leeds United, installing him as captain on arrival.
Bate has thrived in the role, running County’s midfield like a player well beyond his years, and as such will no doubt also have attracted external interest.
Bate in League One last season, as per WhoScored
Starts (Sub)
28 (5)
Goals
2
Assists
5
Tackles per 90
1.8
Key passes per 90
1
Pass success rate
85.1%
But losing the midfielder would be another important voice in the squad gone, and would leave the Hatters needing to appoint a third new captain in four seasons after former skipper Paddy Madden left last summer.
There’s already been plenty of change at Edgeley Park this summer, and the transfer window has only just kicked off, so carrying a familiar captain through to the new season could prove important.
Benony Breki Andresson
Icelandic striker Benony Breki Andresson only signed for the Hatters in January and, billed as an “emerging talent signing” by director of football, and now CEO, Simon Wilson, wasn’t expected to have too great an impact on the first team.
The 19-year-old is therefore ahead of schedule, as he jumped straight into battling for minutes off the bench and notched an impressive four goals in 11 League One appearances, all but two of those outings coming as a substitute.
Given he’s still very new at Edgeley Park, a permanent sale at this early stage feels unlikely, but his rapid start will no doubt have caught a few eyes.
What’s more likely is the Hatters looking to loan Andresson out to boost his first-team minutes, with his move to Stockport coming as his first experience of English football.
But County may be better served batting away any loan approaches and keeping him in Challinor’s squad.
It could do more for the young striker’s development to stay around a setup he has now familiarised himself with, where they can manage his workload and drip-feed him into the senior English game at the right pace, as Challinor was doing so well in the second half of last season.
He may get more minutes on a loan elsewhere, but at Edgeley Park he will be afforded the chance to develop away from the spotlight and without shouldering too much pressure to decide games at this early point in his career, having been taken to extremely well by the County crowd.
Andresson brings bags of promise and, as County are already showing, there’s no need to rush his development.
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