Stockport County have rejected a bid from Luton Town for former Lincoln City loanee Jack Diamond.
It has been a relatively quiet day for the Imps so far, with just two senior exits to report. But the chaos is continuing elsewhere in League One.
According to Pete O’Rourke, the two clubs nicknamed the Hatters have been in discussions over former City man Diamond. A £750,000 bid from Luton has been rejected by Stockport this afternoon.
Again, this wasn’t the sort of story I expected to be picking up on transfer deadline day, but that’s the beauty of this weird and wonderful day in the footballing calendar.
The former Sunderland man had two spells at Harrogate Town before joining the Imps ahead of the 22/23 campaign. After scoring 13 times for the Sulphurites in League Two, he was sounded out as an attacking option for the Imps and signed on loan in August 2022.
When you talk about players hitting the ground running, Jack Diamond has to be right up there in that conversation. He started the defeat at Cambridge United, but bagged a goal in a famous night under the lights as City defeated Derby County. And just four days later, he scored a hat-trick in that crazy 6-3 win away at Bristol Rovers.
Naturally, the goal contributions weren’t quite as frequent after that, but Diamond still managed ten goal involvements in 31 League One outings. He also played five times in the EFL Trophy, scoring twice and adding an assist as the Imps defeated Everton U21’s at the Round of 16 stage. His loan ended prematurely after being charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault.
City terminated his loan with immediate effect, and Sunderland suspended the player pending the outcome of the legal proceedings. In January 2024, Diamond was found ‘not guilty’ on both charges and was allowed to resume his playing career. After joining Carlisle United on loan for the remainder of the campaign, he was released by the Black Cats that summer.
But the 26-year-old has since rebuilt his career with the Cheshire outfit, scoring five times in 32 League One appearances last term. He has already equalled that tally this term, adding five assists, and has goal contributions in his last two games.
Further Interest
There were some unreliable rumours floating around earlier of interest in another ex-Lincoln man, who now also plays at Edgeley Park. I don’t think many would have guessed that Kyle Wootton would be the League One top goalscorer, a decade on from his loan spell at Sincil Bank. He only made a handful of appearances for the Imps, but has enjoyed an excellent season with Stockport.
His brace on Saturday against Plymouth Argyle keeps Stockport’s gap to Lincoln at six points, and continues to highlight their credentials as a genuine automatic promotion contender. It also took his tally for the season to 15, level with Leyton Orient’s Dom Ballard. That supposedly had Blackburn Rovers sniffing around, but those rumours were quickly rebuffed by Sam Byrne.
One move that does appear likely this deadline day is Louie Barry. The Aston Villa man is preparing for his third loan spell at Stockport, after spending the first half of the season with Sheffield United. That spells trouble for the rest of League One, with the attacker scoring 15 times in half a season at Edgeley Park last term.
With Tanto Olaofe also back at his old club, on loan from Charlton Athletic, Stockport are a serious force to be reckoned with as the promotion race heats up.
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