After now club legend Antoni Sarcevic was the recipient of a rebound, the ball nestled into the back of the net to send Valley Parade into raptures with the last kick of the game, with the Bantams booking a slot among 23 others in Sky Bet League One next year, for the first time in 6 seasons.
On paper, it is no secret that a huge recruitment drive to bolster their ranks is paramount to their survival in England’s 3rd tier. With teams like Cardiff, Huddersfield, Barnsley and Bolton to name a few, a meticulous recruitment strategy will have to be put in place to build a team capable enough at this level, with plenty of teams bound to be sniffing for their targets. Here are 5 players I believe Bradford City should sign ahead of the 2025/26 League One season.
MATTY PEARSON – DEFENDER
Matty, who was born and raised in the Keighley area of Bradford, has made 349 football league appearances to date, at just 31 years of age, with 193 of them coming in the Sky Bet Championship. A player who signed for Yorkshire and now league rivals, Barnsley for over half a million pounds, Matty suits the Bantams usual style of play, playing predominantly in a back 3 or 5 when Luton were promoted to the 2nd tier, alongside playing in this system at the beginning of this campaign with Huddersfield Town. At 6 foot 3, and with 5 League One goals this year, He boasts significant aerial threat and has inexplicable value at this level and has played most of his football on the cusp of England’s topflight. Bradford must take into account his torn calf injury which took 16 games off Matty this season, but it’s definitely a risk worth taking, as he will become a free agent when his deal at Town expires this summer.
TAYO ADARAMOLA – WING BACK
After a disappointing beginning to the campaign with Championship chasing Stockport County, making just 6 starts for Dave Challinor’s side whilst on loan, Bradford City was his destination of choice in January for the remainder of the season and it proved his best career decision to date. He’s made 16 appearances in League Two for Bradford and has quickly established himself as fan favourite, with blistering pace and a seemingly endless engine and has racked a surplus of man of the match awards. Operating in the traditional 5 back at Bradford, he has slotted into Graham Alexander’s style of play excellently and can prove an outstanding option on either side as well as a forward position such as left wing, should the Bantams wish to adapt into a game, or throughout the course of the season. Tayo has been listed as out of contract across various websites ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, but I am led to believe this is not the case and if not, League one could be a good place for the Eagles to test Tayo at, a club at which he is adored by fans.
JOE REDMOND – DEFENDER
Undoubtedly unknown by many reading, at 25 years old, powerful defender Joe Redmond is first team captain at St Patricks Athletic in the top-flight of Irish Football and has appeared over 125 times for the club. Born in Kilnamanagh in South Dublin, Ireland, Joe began his career at Birmingham City of the Championship but failed to register a solitary senior a minute at St Andrews, subsequently returning to Ireland with Cork City on loan before a permanent switch to Drogheda United. After just 13 games he was snapped up by St Pat’s, his current club and has greatly impressed, featuring at youth level for his country and winning player of the year in his first season with the side, a season which included a winning penalty in the UEFA Conference League in the second qualifying round against Mura. He donned the captain’s armband after just 6 months and captained them to the FAI Cup the following season in front of 44,000 spectators. Last season was his best season to date statistically, he racked up his second PFAI LOI team of the year spot and managed to score the winner with a great header against Vaduz in the Europa Conference League. A physical ball playing defender who is dominant in the air at 6 foot, he has featured in every single St Patrick’s game in the 2025 season to date and will no doubt command a decent transfer fee to bring him to Valley Parade. But it is an exciting proposition for Bradford City and Joe and its also a market the Bantams have dipped their toe in before, with the signing of Ciaran Kelly with Bohemians, who will be alongside Joe next year should Ciaran take up the contract offer presented to him. It diverts away from the systematical recruitment style Alexander has followed, as Redmond operates in a back four in Ireland, but who better to mold a hidden gem than Graham Alexander?
KUSINI YENGI – FORWARD
Departing Fratton Park this summer, Aussie striker Kusini Yengi is another excellent pickup Bradford City should be all over. An international for Australia, with 6 goals in 11 caps for the Socceroos, Kusini is an outrageous threat in the air and a serial poacher, who’s attacking positioning and movement in the area has allowed him to score an array of different goals for Portsmouth since arriving from Western Sydney Wanderers in 2023. He racked 15 G/A in his first campaign as he helped Pompey achieve promotion from League One and is a very fast and agile striker for 6 foot 2, but has struggled for games in the Championship this year, with 0 goals in 14 league appearances last campaign. Somewhat harshly released and rated very highly by supporters, Kusini would be a very exciting signing for the Bantams and has done it at this level before, and despite location potentially being a problem for Yengi, you truly doubt if that’s a barrier, as he moved 10,500 miles to complete this move to England initially. This is a great move for Kusini at another huge League One club, as he is still only 26 years old, providing a fantastic bit of business for all parties
TYRESE FORNAH – MIDFIELDER
Spending a fruitful personal season at newly rich Salford City on loan in 2024/25, with the Ammies just missing out on the playoffs by a singular point, Tyrese Fornah is set to depart Derby County this summer, with Derbyshire Live reporting that he ‘faces an uncertain’ future upon his return to Pride Park. He racked up 44 games in all competitions this year in his 5th career loan spell at Salford and has just under 40 Sky Bet Championship games under his belt at 25 years-old, including 5 games in Portugal’s Top-flight whilst on loan there from Nottingham Forest. A Powerful midfielder, who excels in his ball carrying through midfield and progressive passing, he boasts impressive physical attributes, using his body really well in tight areas with some excellent technical ability, he has the capabilities to be a really nice League One box-to-box midfielder. At 6 foot 1, it would be the third Derby County midfielder that Bradford have brought into the club since 2018, joining the likes of Callum Guy and Jacob Butterfield. Still really young at 2, and with fantastic experience at this level and beyond with lots of minutes in the tank next year, it could be an excellent addition to Graham Alexanders’ side for his biggest managerial test to date.
With some defence depth issues at Bradford at the time of writing, but also the need for some serious quality to extend chances of a much needed League One survival, to cement themselves higher up the period for the foreseeable future of the football club, these are 5 excellent additions that may just keep the Bantams ticking for the upcoming campaign! Who would you like to see in Claret and Amber next year and who should your club sign for the upcoming campaign this transfer window?
