Lincoln City have been credited with an interest in Odin Bailey following his release by Stockport County.
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder is leaving Edgeley Park this summer, and City are now one of the clubs to have been linked with him as the recruitment picture begins to take shape.
Bailey’s name emerged after Sheffield Star reporter Alex Miller suggested he was one consideration on Sheffield Wednesday’s recruitment longlist, with the Owls understood to be assessing a number of options as part of a rebuild. That was then followed by Stockport County commentator Sam Byrne, who added that Bailey has interest from Lincoln City too.
At this stage, it appears to be one of those early summer links rather than anything more advanced, but it is still an intriguing one. Bailey is a player with plenty of League One experience, recent promotion pedigree, and enough flexibility in attacking midfield areas to make him a possible name to appear on a longlist. Championship quality? I’m not sure.
Would be an excellent move and makes sense.
Had heard Bailey has interest from Lincoln City too, for what it’s worth. #StockportCounty https://t.co/wDrUL7hTdV
— Sam Byrne (@_SByrne) June 4, 2026
Bailey Set To Leave Stockport
Stockport confirmed that Bailey would leave the club at the end of his contract, bringing an end to a three-year spell that began with a loan move from Salford City in September 2023. He quickly became a useful part of Dave Challinor’s squad, helping County win the League Two title in 2023-24 before signing permanently in January 2024.
Since then, Bailey has been involved regularly at League One level, with his current record standing at 92 league appearances and seven goals for Stockport. He also started at Wembley in the recent League One play-off final defeat against Bolton Wanderers, operating in midfield as County’s push for a second successive promotion ended one game short.
He began his career with Birmingham City, making a handful of senior appearances before loans at Gloucester City, Forest Green Rovers and Livingston. His time at Forest Green brought regular EFL football, while Livingston gave him Scottish Premiership experience. A move to Salford followed in 2022, but it was at Stockport where he found his strongest run of sustained football.
Competiton
There will, of course, be competition if his availability becomes more widely known. A free agent with his profile, age and recent League One minutes is unlikely to be short of options, while the reported Sheffield Wednesday interest shows he is already being assessed elsewhere.
I’m not sure Bailey would be a headline-grabbing signing, but he would be an experienced, adaptable attacking midfielder with good recent grounding in successful squads. I do seem to recall us being linked with him in the past, when he was at Birmingham City, but I might be wrong.
At this point, it is one to file under ‘maybe’ rather than expectation, as I expect, if anything, he is on a long list, rather than at the top of a shortlist.
We need to be looking for proven Championship experience in our transfers this window, IMHO, this would be a sideways move at best, not a forward step.