I have to cringe at the recent social media furore over the Ethan Erhahon news (as I do at the Coldplay CEO furore, by the way).
He didn’t appear in last night’s friendly (best to emphasise that) against Grimsby Town, seemingly because there is interest in him and we didn’t want to risk him getting injured. Of course, that’s sparked the usual stodgy mire of reaction, everything from ‘get rid as he doesn’t want to be here’ to City ‘losing control of the narrative’ over the transfer window. Everyone needs to just relax.
The rush to have something relevant to say is embarrassing, especially when none of it is truly grounded in reality. This development is nothing unexpected. It isn’t new, it isn’t a tantrum from a player, it isn’t something that is going to scupper our season before it has kicked off. It’s expected, and to suggest otherwise is, frankly, absurd. Remember, these stories about him only having a year left and us having to sell are also wrong – my understanding is he has two years, one contracted and an option in our favour.
The one thing the Imps have always said is that Ethan’s agent knows the price; Ethan knows his price, and if a club meets that price, then the deal is done. If they don’t, it’s not done. It is that simple. We went into this window expecting to lose three key players: O’Connor, Roughan and Erhahon. The first two left and have been replaced by Sonny Bradley and Ryley Towler. Erhahon is still here, but may go, and if he does, we’ll go fishing for a replacement. The one thing the club have always focused on is not selling him at ten to twelve on deadline day.
There is no indication Erhahon is demanding a move. His switch to City was designed to get him in the shop window; he came here with a view to moving on. That’s never been a secret. He’s never downed tools, he’s never kicked up a fuss, he’s always applied himself 100% (sometimes applied himself a little too much, but never has he left me thinking he wasn’t committed). It’s why tweets like the one below are a little misguided – he’s always been someone who is likely to leave, he’s always been expected to leave, and the wording of this from a national journalist unlikely to be close to the club makes it suggest like he’s had a tantrum or something.
Lincoln City have received offers for midfielder Ethan Erhahon from Wigan Athletic and Swansea City, while Bolton Wanderers and Oxford United have also enquired.
Erhahon was left out of the matchday squad to face Grimsby yesterday after informing Lincoln he wants to leave.… pic.twitter.com/ApXiIlZB4H
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 23, 2025
It’s news, of course it is. But is it us ‘losing control of a situation’ type of news? No, of course not. We’ll get our fee, as we had planned, and we’ll then reinvest in the area we need. It’s a blow, of course, we want to keep our best players, but in our squad we have two types of footballer – those who are here to do a job (Bradley, Collins, Darikwa etc) and those who are here to turn a profit, one day (Erhahon, Makama, Street, etc). There has never been any sort of deviation from that plan.
I’ve also read that some fans are tired of this sort of news dominating the summer, but in truth, any sort of transfer news dominating the summer draws the same response. Tayo Edun, Anthony Scully, Regan Poole, and even Jorge Grant. The same faces were saying the same things about them as they are Erhahon. Maybe it’s my age, but the one thing I get sick of is the predictability of response and coverage year after year. It’s a way to do some talkSPORT style sensationalist engagement farming for some, for others a chance to polish the rose-tints in our their spectacles. I suppose we didn’t notice it as much pre-social media, but now it’s as predictable as me putting out an argument saying how bored I am with the predictability of the summer months.
That, Alanis Morrisette, is ironic. Or maybe it is just hypocritical. I can’t decide.
Would I be disappointed if he went to a Wigan or someone like that? Obviously, if they’re in our division, it will sting, as the player seemingly wanted a move to the Championship. That said, £1m of Wigan’s money is still worth as much as £1m of Stoke’s money. I’d like to think that a player who turned down Forest Green and bigger wages to come here for progression wouldn’t find himself playing at a club we (comfortably) finished above last season, even if they did win an FA Cup a few years ago.
I saw a debate about us being smaller than Wigan, and one of their fans saying how they’d won the cup a few years ago. I get that, mate, but Erhahon won’t get a medal because you won a cup a decade ago, will he? In my opinion, Wigan are no bigger than us, nor are Oxford; the difference is current success and money. Huddersfield, Stoke and Preston are bigger clubs, and a move to those would, in the eyes of a fan like me, be preferable.
I would be disappointed if he went to a League One club, especially if it were Huddersfield Town (because I hate their ‘let’s lose £15m and then spend twice as much the next season’ philosophy), but I won’t begrudge him a move. At least with Huddersfield, there is an indication they will be Championship next season, unlike Wigan. I’d still like to think a Stoke or Preston would come for him, and that would be the right move – regular Championship football, and a shop window should that team struggle.
The perfect move, in my opinion, would be Oxford United. That’s purely from a selfish point of view. I think the U’s will be among the relegation candidates next season, so if he goes there with a good sell-on fee, and they drop out of the second tier, he could be forced to leave next summer for another Championship club, leaving us quids in!
Whatever happens, rest assured, many people on social media will have an opinion on it, either genuine or designed to get a bit of engagement for their flagging follower lists.