Promotion rivals Bradford City and Luton Town are battling to sign Burton Albion forward Jake Beesley.
The Brewers’ top goalscorer has 13 goal involvements in League One this season, scoring in back-to-back clashes against promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town and Lincoln City.
Beesley was unable to continue his goalscoring yesterday evening against Bolton Wanderers, a side against whom he bagged a brace back in November. Burton’s forward also enjoyed a productive festive period, grabbing a goal and an assist in successive games before and after Christmas Day.
According to Football League World, these two third-tier giants are both interested in the 29-year-old, with deadline day fast approaching.
Bradford’s goalscoring issues were laid bare at the LNER Stadium last night, recording their lowest attacking statistics this decade in a 3-0 defeat to Lincoln. That made it successive games without finding the net, after losing their West Yorkshire derby against Huddersfield Town at the weekend.
Graham Alexander’s side are in their first season back at this level in six years, but their early-season form suggested they wouldn’t be sticking around for long. Only promoted in the final minutes of the last campaign, Bradford carried forward that momentum in their pursuit of Championship football.
But four losses in five matches this month, failing to score in three of those defeats, have firmly halted those ambitions. Following last night’s unfavourable results, in which all their promotion rivals won, Bradford have slipped to fifth place.
Luton are also scoreless in their past two matches, since fighting back to draw against the Imps earlier this month. Successive 1-0 away losses at Plymouth Argyle and Huddersfield Town have seen them lose ground on the Play-Off places, a gap that now stands at six points. And the good form of sides below them has closed the table right up. Plymouth Argyle, in 14th place, are just two points adrift of the 9th-placed Hatters.
Gideon Kodua and Jordan Clark are the only players to score more than twice for Luton in the league this term. Jerry Yates’s lack of form for the Bedfordshire outfit has been a mystery, having hit double figures in the second tier with Derby County last term.
Beesley isn’t the only forward the Bantams have been credited with an interest in recently. Devante Cole is a man tipped with many potential League One suitors, following his performances for basement side Port Vale this campaign.
What Would Beesley Bring?
Beesley has been superb in his first campaign in East Staffordshire, but he hasn’t been putting up these kinds of numbers elsewhere. After over a decade in the game, he has only reached double figures for league goals once, scoring 20 times in a loan spell at Bradford Park Avenue.
This is his most prolific season infront of goal since he netted nine times in 21 appearances at League Two Rochdale four years ago. In the third tier, the 29-year-old hit 12 goals across all competitions for Blackpool in the 23/24 campaign. But he only managed two goals last year for the Tangerines, a record which saw him leave in the summer.
That, though, was the same tally as Beesley managed in just six Championship appearances for the Seasiders in the second half of the 21/22 season. Averaging a goal every 4.8 games in the third tier perhaps isn’t the kind of goalscoring that Bradford or Luton will be after.
But his tally of nine this term will no doubt play a huge role in determining whether either side makes a bid in the final five days of the window. After their recent showings infront of goal, it’s hard to see how Beesley could do any worse.