Carlisle United today welcome defender Ben Barclay to the club on a season-long loan deal from Stockport.
Barclay, 25, cut his teeth with Manchester City but moved to Brighton at the age of 16.
He was included in Chris Hughton’s 25-man Premier League for the 2018/19 campaign, such was his impact in the under-23 and Premier League 2 arena.
He spent the second half of the 2018/19 season on-loan with Notts County before moving to Accrington Stanley on a permanent basis during that summer.
Two seasons at the Wham Stadium ended when he joined Stockport County in August 2021, and he enjoyed a 20-game loan spell with Yeovil to finish off last term.
“He’s a player I’ve been aware of for a good few years," manager Paul Simpson told us. "He’s had a few loans out, he’s collected a number of appearances and he’s a player who I think can come in and help us.
“I talked about it last week that I’ve been looking to get some defenders into the club, and I’m hoping that Ben is the first of more to come.
“We’ve got to wait and see what happens over the next few days, and certainly the coming weeks, with the work we’re doing on that.”
“He’s a defender who likes to defend," he continued. "He’s a good size and I want defenders in there.
"He’s a decent footballer, he’s strong in the aerial challenges and I just think we need more competition in the key areas.
“We want to improve the squad and I think he's one who will add to what we’ve already got. He’s a good one for us and, as I say, I’m hoping there’s going to be more."
On how the move came about, he said: "We’ve been speaking to players over the last few weeks and this is one that we’ve talked about a lot. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to get an agreement with Stockport.
“It’s a season long loan, with a view that there might be something more further down the line. The challenge for Ben now is to show us that he deserves to get in the team ahead of the other defenders we’ve got.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him work with us. He showed people what he’s about at Yeovil last season, he played a lot of games there, and I know they were delighted with him.
“It’s a step up now. He’s shown that he can do it in the past with Accrington, and I’m genuinely pleased that we’ve got him.
“He’s become surplus to what Stockport wanted because they’re bringing players in left, right and centre, and they’re having a real go for it. We've been able to step in and benefit from that situation.”
Expanding more ont he likelihood of further signings, he commented: “There’s nothing at the moment, but we have got discussions that are ongoing to get players in.
"It’s a possibility that we’ll be seeing one player move out as well.
“We’ll wait and see what happens over the next couple of days, but my ideal scenario is that we get another player in before Wednesday night, with one gone by then as well.
“As ever we have to wait and see what comes because everything changes so quickly in this mad world of football, and we’ve just no idea what’s coming next.”
And on the three trialists who were with United at Penrith last week, he said: "They were all good lads and they did well, but I don't believe in keeping people hanging around for the sake of it.
"We weren't able to offer anything at this point so I've spoken to them and they've now left us.
"Like I say they worked hard with us through what was a tough week and we wish them well."
