League Two side Chesterfield have failed in their attempt to sign Accrington Stanley’s Benn Ward, with an initial bid being turned down by the Lancashire side.
The Spireites began their season with a 1-0 win over Barrow yesterday but are still in the market for a left-sided centre-back, a profile which Ward fits.
The 21-year-old missed Stanley’s opening game of the season on Saturday, despite the club deeming Chesterfield’s offer to be too low, as reported by journalist Alan Nixon.
Spireites’ bid turned down by fellow League Two side
Manager Paul Cook has had a busy summer in charge of Chesterfield, bringing in eight new players, but is still looking for a left-footed defender to replace Harvey Araujo, who returned to parent club Fulham following the completion of his loan spell.
38-year-old Kyle McFadzean, who is right-footed, started Saturday’s victory over Barrow, whilst club captain Jamie Grimes was left out of the squad completely.
In Cook’s ball-playing style of football, he values a left-footed centre-back in his defence to distribute the ball more quickly and naturally than someone playing on their weaker side.
With just McFadzean, Grimes and Chey Dunkley as the club’s only three central defenders at the moment, the Spireites have been looking to bring in another option and Ward appears to be their top target.
The youngster, who began his career with non-league side Hastings United before making the move up to then-Premier League outfit Burnley in January 2021.
He then had a short loan spell with Swindon Town in the 2023/24 campaign before joining Stanley on a permanent deal in January of this year.
He proceeded to make 21 appearances in the second half of last season, scoring once, although he missed the final day of the season encounter between the sides, which saw Chesterfield win 1-0 and book their play-off place.
Whilst the value of the Spireites’ bid is unknown, the defender is valued at approximately £65,000 by website Transfermarkt and has just one year left on his contract, having signed an 18-month deal at the Crown Ground.
How does he compare to the Blues’ defenders?
Ward missed just one game after signing for Stanley last season and played the full 90 minutes in all but the penultimate match of the campaign.
This availability and fitness is a stark contrast to Chesterfield’s defenders, with McFadzean and Dunkley both suffering long spells on the sidelines last year.
The former was ruled out for a 12-game period with a knee injury between February and the start of April, whilst the latter’s season was ended in October as he required surgery on a neck issue.
Although both are now fit and suffered no problems in the victory over Barrow, their minutes, particularly for McFadzean, will have to be managed.
In terms of on-field performances, Ward had a significantly higher tackle success rate (76.1%) than Grimes (62.5%), Dunkley and McFadzean (both 50%), but struggled in terms of aerial duels, according to FotMob.
Dunkley led the way with 81.3% of his aerial duels won, followed by Grimes’ 71.1%, McFadzean’s 66.7% and Ward’s 63.5%.
However, this may not be a concern as, if partnered with Dunkley, Ward would be able to trust his teammate to challenge for most aerial balls, as was seen with McFadzean against Barrow.
Ward also fell behind the other three when it came to pass accuracy, but this is likely to be down to the difference in play styles between Chesterfield and Accrington, with the former retaining the ball a lot more.
One area where he performed well was interceptions, with just Dunkley (3) beating his 2.13 per 90 minutes. McFadzean (1) and Grimes (0.7) fell a long way behind.
How likely is a deal?
With just one year left on his contract, it would seem like Chesterfield have a strong chance of meeting Accrington’s demand for a move to be completed.
The Blues’ stronger financial position will also be important and given Stanley have made just three signings this summer, they may welcome some funds to add to their side.
With just over four weeks until the 1 September transfer deadline, the Spireites will not need to rush communications and are likely to revisit the deal.