Notts County provided Stockport County with club-best transfer steal | OneFootball

Stockport County will land few deals as attractive as this Notts County one

Stockport County landing Kyle Wootton on a free transfer from Notts County will go down as one of the club’s best-ever steals.

The towering striker had been tearing up the National League with the Magpies, after dropping into non-league football from Scunthorpe United.

As Stockport were weighing up their first season back in the EFL, Wootton’s deal at Meadow Lane was coming to an end.

The Hatters pounced, and it was a move they’d never look back on.

Stockport County used their position to land smart Kyle Wootton deal

After an immense National League season in 2021/22, Stockport were preparing for their return to the EFL after 11 years away.

A common tactic for promoted teams is to bring their former division’s best players with them, and that’s certainly what the Hatters did with Wootton.

The striker had netted 19 league goals that season, the sixth-most in the fifth tier, and, crucially, was out of contract.

With Grimsby the other side joining Dave Challinor’s side in the step-up, the Magpies were always in a tricky spot trying to hold onto their key forward.

They offered Wootton a new deal to remain in the fifth tier, but it was rejected by the then-25-year-old in favour of a free transfer to Edgeley Park, where he signed a three-year deal.

Free transfer has saved the Hatters a fortune more than once

It proved an inspired, thrifty move from the Hatters, as Wootton went on to adjust seamlessly to the new task, netting 14 goals and registering four assists in his first season.

The start to his second season in Stockport was delayed through injury, but he sprang to life towards Christmas, helping to sustain a surge that would later see County promoted to the third tier.

With that triumph, Wootton had successfully saved Stockport a fortune in recruiting a striker, often the most expensive area of the pitch to buy a player for.

But with promotion to League One confirmed, plenty were suggesting that Challinor may have squeezed all the available juice from the Wootton deal, and that money may finally need spending in that area.

The player himself had other ideas.

He spearheaded the Hatters’ journey into the League One play-offs in the 2024/25 campaign, registering an impressive 11 goals and seven assists.

It’s a scalability that few would have predicted for Wootton when he first signed, having originally dropped from that level with Scunthorpe earlier in his career.

However, the way the striker has managed to take each jump in his stride has saved the Hatters a small fortune, and consequently made his free transfer look like one of the club’s best in recent years.

There’s still more to come from the Kyle Wootton deal

And that’s not all.

Wootton is still scoring plenty in the third tier, his link-up with the likes of Ollie Norwood a particular highlight, with the target man giving his colleagues something to aim for from set-pieces, and also an avenue for ball progression with his combative hold-up play.

Still only 29 years old, Wootton is still in his prime and could have years ahead of him.

Moreover, his more static, physical style of play tends to lend itself to greater longevity in the game, as his play is less affected by the general slowdown that ageing brings.

If he retired today, Wootton would still go down as one of Stockport’s best-ever steals, but there could yet be even more to come from the striker.