Midfielder Kyle Dempsey joins Championship club
Highly-rated midfielder Kyle Dempsey has today completed a move to Championship outfit Huddersfield Town on a three-year contract (with a one-year option) for an undisclosed fee.
Dempsey, 19, came through the youth system from a young age at Brunton Park and made his debut for the club in 2014 having established himself in the U18 and reserve teams.
He signed his first professional contract ahead of last season and agreed a new one-year deal having made just over 50 appearances and scored 11 goals during his time in the pro ranks.
A near ever-present last season he made a clean sweep at the end of season dinner where he picked up a number of player of the season awards.
Manager Keith Curle said: “I was informed yesterday that Kyle and his representatives intended to speak to a Championship club about a possible move.
"We knew if the deal wasn't 100% right for Kyle that he was more than happy to stay here to continue to progress his career. The talks went well for him and I think it goes without saying that we all wish the very best as he makes this move."
"His progression with us, over a very short period of time, has been exceptional," he continued. "The impact he made on our football team sends out the right message for all of the young and aspiring players at our club.
"It shows them that there is a pathway to the first team and beyond, at a very early age, if they apply themselves in the way Kyle has done through his time with us.
"A number of other young players have taken this path with Carlisle United, some of them are still in our first team squad right now, and I believe it is vital to have this kind of pathway and to create opportunities like this within the lower leagues."
"I think the first aspiration for any player should be to play for his local club," he told us. "Kyle has done that and, having applied himself correctly, he has caught the eye of clubs at higher levels.
"When I first came here I highlighted that I wanted to be part of his progression, and Colin West and I have worked closely with him on things we felt he needed to do differently.
"In terms of football, he has developed quickly, and I also feel it was good business sense to invest time and effort in a player who had that aptitude for learning quickly."
"We've said all along we weren't going to stand in his way if the right offer came along," he added. "We placed trigger clauses in the contract at the value we felt was right, and that meant he would be able to talk to any club who met or bettered that valuation, should he wish to do so.
"It's pleasing that we have been able to do things properly for him from both a football and business point of view. I think I've said this before, but the message we sent to Kyle was that we were more than happy to keep him here should he find that things weren't to his liking elsewhere.
"However, I think he has found himself a good club in Huddersfield. They are good football people and they will look to progress him even further."
"I think you can say that it's pleasing for us, as coaching staff, to see a young player come through and move on," he agreed. "Part of the task we set ourselves is to maximise potential as much as we can.
"When I first came to the club Kyle was being used mostly as a wide player. We very quickly identified that he had strengths we could utilise, in terms of ability and energy, in a different way. The number of goals and assists he notched up show that we probably got that right.
"He played a huge part in the club retaining its league status and, again, it was impressive to see him adapt to the mental pressures that came with it.
"I had a conversation with Kyle and I think he knows himself there are things he needs to develop within his game if he is to grasp this opportunity fully. He'll have to look at game understanding at what is a much higher level than he has been used to and he'll have to adapt his own game to suit it.
"I would say that if he continues on the learning curve he's been on then the next stage of his progression would be to become an integral part of the Huddersfield first team squad.
"He'll have to learn to deal with those occasions when he has been left out, because that can become very frustrating for a young man when all he really wants to do is play.
"I know he'll use every minute he has on the training pitch to work on his game, because that's the character he is. They will have coaches available for individual coaching, which will help with that, and the biggest part of what happens to him next will come down to what he does if he isn't in the starting line up.
"Having said that, he does have the foundations in place to become the player we all think he can be and we wish him well as he leaves us to join Huddersfield Town."
