Although a long-time admirer of Harry Lewis, Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson is said to have had another goalkeeper in mind before landing the Bradford City custodian.
Carlisle have already used three keepers this season and always had plans to sign another in this window, with MK Dons keeper Craig MacGillivray a target they initially went for, according to a popular football pundit Alan Nixon.
But it’s Lewis who eventually made the move to Brunton Park for what has been released as an undisclosed fee but was said to be £175,000 in some media outlets.
That would be a significant outlay for Carlisle’s new owners if correct but the former Shrewsbury and Southampton keeper has a good track record and recruiting a respected stopper makes complete sense.
According to FotMob the Blues are currently conceding 1.5 goals per game which is the third worst in the entire division. Failure to address that problem would almost guarantee relegation back to League Two.
Although conceding four goals in his last outing for City against Crawley Lewis has kept eight clean sheets in 26 games so far in League Two this season.
It has been suggested that he has not been at his best for Bradford at times this season but has shown much higher levels in the past.
More stats from FotMob reveal that at his best last season, Lewis prevented 1.40 goals for City. He also had a save percentage of 73.1% and kept 18 clean sheets in 46 matches. These are impressive statistics and a repeat of that for Carlisle would play an important role in the club’s survival fight.
Barnsley were interested in signing Lewis last season and made two unsuccessful bids with the keeper admitting his “brain had been scrambled by the transfer speculation, which was something he had never experienced before.”
City did not feel the Barnsley bid did not match their valuation of 26-year-old Lewis, but it’s perhaps significant they have now agreed a deal with Carlisle.
Manager Graham Alexander told the local Bradford media: “In the modern game, you know the player or his agent are potentially aware. We always have quite a transparent operation with players.
“It was an offer that was acceptable for the club. Harry expressed a desire to investigate it further – it was good for him in terms of moving up a league and from a personal point of view.
“He wanted to pursue it and, from that point on, it was a deal that happens in most transfer windows. All the parties were reasonably comfortable.
“We had to make sure we had our plan in place to replace a good player with another good player.”
Once City had their new man Sam Walker in place the deal for Lewis with Carlisle went ahead.
