Bradford City reaction given to Jenson Metcalfe exit situation - 'It wouldn't make sense' | OneFootball

Jenson Metcalfe has enjoyed an impressive season at Bradford City and may well be the subject of interest from clubs this summer.

Having gained promotion back to the third-tier after a six-year stint in League Two on the final day of last season, Bradford City have put themselves in an excellent position to achieve back-to-back promotions.

The Bantams head into the final day of the season sitting fifth in the table, albeit not yet assured of their top six spot and a play-off berth ahead of a clash with relegation-threatened Exeter City away at St James Park.

Graham Alexander has done an excellent job at Valley Parade and surpassed all pre-season expectations by ensuring that City have sustained a genuine promotion challenge this season.

They made quite a lot of moves last summer with the signings of real League One experiences brought in, such as Curtis Tilt, Max Power and Stephen Humphreys.

One of their younger incoming signings was Jenson Metcalfe, who has enjoyed a stellar campaign in the middle of the park for the West Yorkshire outfit.

Jenson Metcalfe leaving would be a blow for Bradford

Having signed from Everton last summer, following a loan spell at League Two play-off semi-finalists Chesterfield last summer, Jenson Metcalfe has established himself as one of the best young midfielders in League One.

The 21-year-old Wigan-born Everton academy graduate has made 40 appearances across the season in the league and has recently been award the Supporters’ Trust Young Player of the Year, Shipley Bantams Most Consistent Away Performer and the Bingley Bantams Player of the Year – as well as being nominated for the EFL League One Young Player of the Season.

The accolades and his performances will naturally draw speculation this summer, especially if Bradford do miss out on promotion, but FLW’s Bradford Fan Pundit Boris Thomson believes it would be ‘illogical’ for him to depart a club ‘on the up’.

Boris says: “I think it would be daft for Metcalfe to leave and it wouldn’t make sense.

“He joined us over the summer in a position where we weren’t really expecting to go up.

“We’ve got to stay grounded in the fact that we only came up last season due to a 96th minute winner. We weren’t in a position where we were expected to do something properly.

“We are now but it wouldn’t make sense for him to leave.

“Even if we don’t go up, we have had a very, very good year and we look like a team on the up in general. Why would he go out and leave?

“He has been exceptional and if he was to leave there would be a very hefty price tag. What that price tag would be, I’m not sure. Probably in and around the £1 million mark, I’d like to hope. It probably would be slightly less but I think it would be illogical for him to leave.”

Jenson Metcalfe has enjoyed an impressive debut season at Bradford

Having arrived on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee from Everton, penning a three-year contract at Valley Parade, Metcalfe has been instrumental in Bradford’s success this season.

The all-action midfielder has managed 2.5 tackles per 90 this season with only Ibou Touray and Josh Neufville managing more for Bradford after 45 games of the League One campaign, with 5.5 recoveries per game only bettered by Lee Evans outfield.

He has performed well across the board as a defensive midfielder with 207 duels won and an excellent work rate and harrying abilities helping win possession in the final third on 15 occasions – with only attackers and Antoni Sarcevic ahead of him in that regard for Bradford.

Metcalfe, still developing and tied down to a further two years at Bradford, is highly-rated and it would likely take a hefty offer to prize him away from the Bantams this summer – albeit failure to get promotion could be crucial to his future.