Sources: Midfielder rejected Derby County, Barnsley and Peterborough ahead of Bradford City switch | OneFootball

Bradford City pulled off one of the coups of the summer transfer window in League Two so far by adding Richie Smallwood to their ranks yesterday.

However, it appears that the midfielder wasn’t short of offers from elsewhere and Football League World understands that he turned down moves to clubs in League One to join up with the Bantams.

The 31-year-old featured prominently for Hull last season in the Championship but despite being a relative mainstay in their first-team, they decided to not renew his deal at the KCOM Stadium.

He played in 42 league games in the 2021/22 season and had four goal contributions and despite helping the Tigers to stay up, he has been shown the door this summer.

Quiz: Can you name which club these 27 ex-Derby County players are playing for now?

1 of 27

Richard Keogh?

Blackpool Luton Town Peterborough United Sunderland

Smallwood was not short of offers though, with newly-relegated Derby, Barnsley and Peterborough three of the most high-profile teams to put deals on the table to try and snap up the midfielder.

So too did MK Dons, who themselves were unlucky to miss out on promotion to the second tier last season.

Salford and Wrexham from lower in the pyramid also tried to convince the player to choose them but in the end it appears he was most enticed by the prospect of Bradford City and their bid to try and get out of League Two under Mark Hughes.

Smallwood certainly has the knowhow and experience to perform at a high level and is arguably above his grade in League Two. In fact, the 31-year-old has yet to play in the fourth tier over the course of his career and with offers to continue playing in League One, where he has racked up 107 outings to date, it looked like he could stay in the third tier.

Instead, the midfielder will now go into next season as a Bantam and will be hoping that his playing experience of over 350 EFL games will come in handy with his new side.