Bradford City on the verge of selling Jake Young to Fleetwood Town | OneFootball

Young's unhappy time at the Bantams is set to come to an end, and it is Fleetwood who will try to bring back the striker's goalscoring touch

Fleetwood Town are set to raid their League Two rivals Bradford City for striker Jake Young after having a bid accepted for the striker's services.

It was confirmed after the Bantams' win over Bromley on Saturday by manager Graham Alexander that a bid had been accepted from a fourth tier club for the 23-year-old's services.

And according to journalist Pete O'Rourke, it is the Cod Army who are set to land Young, despite Alan Nixon reporting earlier in August that Crawley Town and Stevenage of League One were both keen.

The forward has been in demand once again following an impressive loan spell at Swindon Town in the first half of last season, but he has never hit the ground running with Bradford, and failed to do so once more when returning halfway through 2023-24.

Bradford boss Graham Alexander hasn't involved the striker in any of his side's League Two fixtures this season, with the 23-year-old only getting 25 minutes in the Bantams' penalty shoot-out defeat to Grimsby Town.

Only three days ago, Alexander "insisted" there hadn't been any bids despite other reports from Nixon saying that Barnsley and Wigan Athletic were keen on the striker as well as the aforementioned Crawley and Stevenage.

The Bradford boss went on to reveal that the speculation has unsettled Young, saying - as per the Yorkshire Post: "L ooking at it from my experience of football, it's difficult for the players to handle these scenarios, but he has experience of it because it was the case in January for virtually the whole month until we got him on the pitch.

"It's a similar scenario now so he will have better experience to manage this situation, but from what I see and feel, and I do get a feel for this, because I do spend a lot of time around the players, I feel there's a distraction with Jake.

"We'll just see what the next 10 days bring. If I had a £1 I wouldn't know which side of the bet to put it on.

"I spoke to him numerous times on the phone when he was at Swindon (on loan, before being called back in January) and the scenario's still the same, I still feel he's a very good player that could help us win games.

"I have to take a step back from that scenario and focus on players 100 per cent focused on Bradford."

Fleetwood manager Charlie Adam is set to put an end to the speculation though by acquiring Young, which will add to the Cod Army's attacking unit after the sale of Promise Omochere to Bristol Rovers earlier in the summer.

Young never got going at Bradford following his his 2022 move from Forest Green Rovers, having failed to break into Mark Hughes' plans before being sent out on loan to Barrow in the second half of 2022-23.

It was a loan spell at Swindon Town in 2023-24 that really saw Young flourish though, netting 16 times in just 25 League Two outings before being recalled by Bradford and Alexander for the rest of the season in January, but his campaign ended early after playing just four times back at his contracted club, with hamstring surgery putting him on the shelf.

Jake Young loss won't be too harsh on Bradford City

The Bantams have started well this season under Alexander, following last campaign's unfortunate play-off absence after finishing being one point off the top seven.

Things seem to be turning the right way for City though, after seven points from their opening three games - which puts them second in League Two.

Veteran striker Andy Cook is still fit and firing, so they won't be worried in terms of Young's departure with his scoring record, whilst the likes of Callum Kavanagh and Bobby Pointon playing in and around the striker will grab goals.

With other attacking output elsewhere in the squad, Young's absence may not be too big a blow.

The 23-year-old did perform well for Swindon Town, but he has never clicked with Bradford since his move from Forest Green.

However, if Fleetwood get the best out of Young, regret might seep through for the Bantams - that is a massive if though at this moment in time.