3 Carlisle United players we are surprised didn't leave last month | OneFootball

Highlights

Carlisle United's summer was full of incomings, and a few outgoings, but their could have been more that left the club.

A dozen players arrived at the club this summer, having lost the same amount of players, earlier in the summer, to free agency.

Bringing in players was always the focus of the summer for manager Paul Simpson and Head of Recruitment Gregg Abbott.

The only worry about someone leaving was the heavy interest, and bid, from Blackpool for star midfielder Owen Moxon. They offered £250,000 for him, according to Sky Sports, but the bid was rejected, and no known follow-up was made.

Two contracted players did leave the club though. Teenagers Max Kilsby and Kai Nugent both went on loan to Annan Athletic. The club, who are managed by former Carlisle player Peter Murphy, had Kilsby on a season-long loan last season, and he's back for another half of a season. 18-year-old Nugent's move is a full-season loan.

But there were three other players that we expected to move to other clubs, in one way or another.

Corey Whelan

There has been long-standing interest in the Carlisle defender. He turned down an "incredible" move to another League Two club, way back in January, according to Paul Simpson.

He wanted to stay and be a part of the club's promotion push, and he was a big part of it. He started in the club's playoff final win, against Stockport County, that saw a long awaited return to the third tier achieved.

With game time limited for him, so far this season, there was interest from Colchester United in the 25-year-old. They had built up some injuries at the position, and he was looked at as an option.

Ultimately, he decided that he didn't want to relocate down south, according to U's manager Ben Garner.

He's not featured in the squad in most of Carlisle's league games. So it was surprising that he didn't make a move, even if not to the Essex-based club.

Jayden Harris

Last year, Harris was going through what Whelan currently is; struggling to even get picked for the matchday squad. He played 18 games, but he only started three of them, averaging half an hour on the pitch per league game.

He was handed a three-year deal last summer, so any move would have likely been a loan one. Nobody expected him to get near the starting XI this season. So a loan to a lower level would've allowed to keep learning and growing as a footballer.

But he has impressed the manager in pre-season games, and reserve team games. Simpson obviously sees potential in him. But it looked like the logical move, for him, was one away for Carlisle.

Gabe Breeze

The teenage goalkeeper was available for a loan move. But the boss stressed that it would have to be the right situation for the player.

The possibility of any move was reduced by the fact that Carlisle only brought in another goalkeeper with less than two weeks to go in the window. This reduced the amount of time they had to sort a deal for Breeze, and nothing got done.