Following the statement made by the Holdings Board on the Owen Moxon transfer bid speculation last week, manager Paul Simpson clarified that an offer is on the table for the popular midfielder which will, if accepted, secure his services at Brunton Park beyond the 12-months he currently has left to run.
"We [Holdings Board] had a discussion about this early on in the week and the decision was made, and I was part of the discussions, that we actually need to come out and look after ourselves here,” the gaffer told us.
“There's no point ducking and diving behind things. There was a bid for him. It was absolutely turned down flat. There was an inquiry from the same club a few weeks ago where we were asked to name our price, and the club were absolutely adamant there's no price because he’s not for sale.
“We all know he's got a year left on his contract. My first conversation with him about signing an extension was the Tuesday after the Wembley game. Once we knew what league we were in, we had a conversation that we were going to make an offer to him.
“Those conversations have gone on. We've made a fantastic offer for him to stay at the football club, the board are adamant that we want him with us. We can't do any more about it.
“We are very, very disappointed that it was leaked to the media, but there's nothing we can do about that. It certainly wasn't leaked by us.
“And our stance – and I've explained this to Mox, I've had many, many conversations with him – our stance is he is not for sale. We want him here for the long-term and the directors want him here for the long-term.
“There's no thought of cashing in on him or anything like that. We believe that with Owen Moxon in our team, we have a better chance of doing well in League One next season, and I am really pleased and thankful that the directors think the same.”
“Like I say, those conversations are ongoing but he hasn’t signed it yet,” he continued. “He just wants to play football, and he's in a situation where he's just come into professional football and, you know, I'm not going to criticise players for wanting to earn as much as they can.
“I don't know if that particular move would be that financially beneficial to him, because I know what we've offered and it is a flipping good contract. So, I'm hopeful that Owen Moxon will be staying, and I’ll be touching wood on that.
“I want him to stay. He's out of contract next summer and we want him to stay. We want him in this club. He knows what I feel about him.
“He knows he has a chance to leave a huge legacy as a Carlisle United player here. He's a homegrown lad. He actually loves playing football for us and it's just a case that we've got to keep speaking and hope that he thinks that this is the right place for him, and we can make it the right place.”
On the need for the club to clarify its stance on the issue, he said: “I think it is important as a football club. We had an inquiry from this club a couple of weeks ago for us to name our price and, fair play to Nigel Clibbens, he came to me and asked what I thought, and I said I don’t want him to go.
“He said that's good because I've told them he's not for sale. There's no price to give because he's not for sale. And that's what's happened.
“It was an offer that was made and it was all done officially. There's nothing underhand done by the club who made the offer. It was just turned down flatly because we all believe that with Owen Moxon in our side we've got a better chance of being successful.
“We want to keep him. I had a conversation with him after the Stockport Wembley game to let him know that we wanted him to stay for longer. Those talks have kept going on and the offer is still there for him, and I would love him to stay for a for a good few more years.
“Who knows? Let's wait and see.”
