Carlisle United: Winning race for 9-assist star would show intent supporters want to see – View | OneFootball

Defensive reinforcements appear to be at the forefront of Carlisle United's summer transfer window plans, following their relegation to League Two, and another addition is set to be made.

Cameron Harper is expected to be the latest player to arrive at Brunton Park, as per the Press and Journal. The local outlet reported that the Inverness Caledonian Thistle left-back is set to join the Blues, having become a free agent.

Previous reports on Harper's future suggested that he may have been going to another fourth tier side. Tranmere Rovers were reported to have also been interested in the 22-year-old.

With the local reports suggesting that he is Cumbria bound, it feels pretty safe to say that he will be wearing a Blue shirt in League Two come the start of the 2024/25 campaign. That said, United do have recent experience with transfers falling through at the last moment when they looked to be signed, sealed and delivered.

If, or maybe when, Harper is confirmed to be one of the Blues' earlier signings of the summer window, it will be one that fans can look at and appreciate, not only for the quality of the player, but the work done to convince him that Carlisle is the right place for him.

Cameron Harper: Carlisle United's next potential signing

There are glaring deficiencies across the pitch right now for Carlisle. Even with the addition of Harper, they still need at least one more full-back to play on the opposite flank, more options in the middle, plus some creativity to help out the strikers too, just to touch on a few of the issues.

At left-back, with the two Jacks as current options (Armer and Robinson), it's not an obvious gap to fill, but it could be a smart one.

One of the many contrasts between the 22/23 and 23/24 campaigns was the creativity from wide areas. Armer provided six assists the last time the Blues were in League Two. That pales in comparison to the two that he registered in League One in the last term.

He can be a bit one-dimensional in his play. Get him in good areas to cross and he's at his best. Outside of that he can struggle.

Harper registered nine assists in the 23/24 Scottish Championship campaign, and is a much more willing dribbler than Armer is.

Robinson was, at times, the set-piece taker for the Blues. His inconsistency from set-plays caused a lot of frustration, as these were often the few opportunities that the side had. As the free-kick below shows, the 22-year-old Caley Thistle defender has that set-piece trait in his locker.

There are, of course, some drawbacks. In the four relegation play-off games that he played at the end of last season, he made three errors that led to goals, as per Sofascore. This could easily cause problems, but, as a wing-back in Paul Simpson's system, it should be one that they can hide a bit more.

Potential Cameron Harper signing shows great intent

The thought of the attacking contributions that Harper could make to this Carlisle side is, of course, the exciting bit. But there should be focus on the signing as a whole too, if it gets confirmed.

Tranmere appeared to be at least one of the teams in competition with United for him. The Daily Record believed there to be other unnamed teams in the mix too.

The club's struggles with convincing players to come to the border city are well known. Maybe their vicinity to the Scottish border has played a factor in this scenario.

Whatever is behind the reasoning, it'll be of relief to Carlisle fans, if Harper becomes an official Blue, to hear that they were the ones to beat other teams to a player, and not the other way around.