Chesterfield hit the jackpot with Port Vale transfer – Wigan & Ipswich saw his class too | OneFootball

Chesterfield struck gold with the signing of Sam Morsy, and he went on to show his quality again with both Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town.

In the summer of 2013, Chesterfield managed to sign young midfielder Sam Morsy from Port Vale for an undisclosed fee and, in doing so, the Spireites had struck gold.

The Wolverhampton-born midfielder, who began his youth career with Wolves before moving to Port Vale at the age of 17, broke through into the Valiants’ first-team just over a year after making that move.

Morsy went on to be a part of the first team at Vale Park for the next three seasons in League Two and, season upon season, his importance and value to the club grew.

Eventually, Chesterfield boss Paul Cook said he moved “heaven and earth” to ensure Morsy would make the switch from Stoke-on-Trent to Derbyshire – and it was a deal that was well worth his effort.

Morsy had an instant and important impact at Chesterfield

In his debut season in Chesterfield, having joined after helping Port Vale gain automatic promotion to League One, Morsy dropped back down a league to become a fundamental part of the team that won the fourth-tier of English football for a fourth time, being crowned champions on the final day of the campaign.

In an impressive and experienced squad that also boasted the likes of captain Ian Evatt, future Leeds United captain Liam Cooper as well as EFL stalwarts Gary Roberts and Eoin Doyle among many others, Morsy was among the most important members of the squad.

Despite those names perhaps fairly being described as ‘stars’ for the level, it was Morsy who had not only become a fans’ favourite, but had established himself as the talisman, being named the club’s Player of the Year for the 2013/14 season.

A tenacious tackler and someone who could set the tempo and standards of the side with an almost endless level of intensity and industry, Morsy also proved himself to be a level above the division technically, and that was perhaps best shown to a national audience with his assist for Doyle in their 3-1 defeat to Peterborough United at Wembley Stadium in that season’s EFL Trophy final.

His importance was of such value to Cook and Chesterfield that, after his second promotion from League Two in successive seasons, Morsy was then named captain and drove them forward onto further relative success.

He led the side to the play-offs in the third-tier, where they would eventually succumb to a 4-0 aggregate loss at the hands of eventual play-off winners Preston North End in the semi-finals.

He remained at Chesterfield for the first-half of the 2015/16 season, but with Cook having departed that summer, it appeared inevitable he would soon be poached.

In just two and a half years at Chesterfield, Morsy, who had been seen as a coup initially, surpassed expectation and was the driving force behind a side that very nearly achieved back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship.

Morsy continued to thrive at Wigan and Ipswich

Morsy joined Wigan in the January transfer window of 2016, and he played the final 16 games of the campaign as the Latics jumped from just inside the play-off places to becoming third-tier champions.

He had been named Man of the Match on debut against Port Vale and was deemed a key man in their run-in, but his tenacity and determination was tested in his first full season at Wigan after manager Gary Caldwell had sanctioned his loan exit to Barnsley in late-August, before Caldwell’s successor, having been sacked in October, Warren Joyce, recalled the Egyptian in January.

That decision to recall him and avoid him making a permanent move to Oakwell was one that helped shape the next few years of Wigan’s history, with a reunion with Paul Cook in the summer of 2017, after Wigan had been relegated back down to League One, proving to be the catalyst for Morsy once again kicking on and establishing himself as one of the very best midfielders outside of the Championship.

Cook named Morsy as ‘team captain’ in August 2017, and they enjoyed great success together once again, clinching the third-tier title with 98 points ahead of local rivals Blackburn Rovers.

Morsy went on to become a stalwart in the second-tier for the first time in his career, before a move to an ambitious Middlesbrough side in the summer of 2020, following Wigan’s financial problems.

Once again, it had proved to be an underwhelming stint for Morsy, though, without Cook, and he eventually, once again, reunited with Cook to, once again, reignite his career.

They were only back together again for just short of half a season as Ipswich Town underwhelmed in the 2021/22 campaign, with Kieran McKenna eventually arriving in the second-half of the season.

There would have been doubts over Morsy’s general quality, and clear suggestions that, for whatever reason, only Cook could truly unlock his potential – but that all changed under McKenna.

The tenacious and industrious midfielder began to show an enhanced mobility and sheer technical ability with McKenna at the helm, matching his leadership qualities and ability to drive and inspire from on the pitch.

In back-to-back seasons, Morsy captained Ipswich to automatic promotions from League One to the Premier League, where he played for the first time last year, making 33 appearances for the Tractor Boys in the top-flight.

For the first period in his career, Morsy showed that it wasn’t just Cook who could get the best out of him, and he forged an even more successful career for himself in his own right.

Chesterfield had pulled off a masterstroke by managing to lure him from Port Vale, but Wigan and Ipswich also reaped the rewards of Morsy’s winning mentality and supreme leadership skills from the middle of the park.