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It's rare that defenders are valued at £3m in the third tier of English football, but Stockport County's Ethan Pye fits that bill.
The 23-year-old has already racked up over 125 appearances for the Hatters, and has frequently been eyed by clubs in higher divisions.
So… who exactly is Ethan Pye?
Name: Ethan Pye
Position/s: Centre-back
Age: 23 (Born: January 27, 2003)
Nationality: English
Height: 1.83m (6ft)
Preferred Foot: Left
Current Club: Stockport County
Ethan Pye is that brand of player whose maturity, far beyond his years, oozes out of him, as though he's been playing for decades. He was picked up by County as a development transfer as a teenager, and has progressed through non-league loans to become the club's primary defender, taking Stockport's jump from League Two to League One in his stride.
West Bromwich Albion, Blackburn Rovers, and no doubt plenty of others have tried to prize him away from Edgeley Park, but the club have remained steadfast in their £3m valuation. He's young, strong, has plenty of experience, is calm on the ball, can play in multiple positions and setups and is left-footed. It's easy to see why the Hatters want to stand firm.
Pye's strengths
Ball-winning: With modern defenders, it can be easy to forget the bread and butter of the position: getting the ball back. Whether it's a last-ditch sliding challenge, easing somebody off the ball or intercepting a pass, Pye has it in the locker.
Passing: A requirement for any Dave Challinor player is being comfortable with the ball at your feet, and in this area, Pye passes with flying colours. He is not one to ping Hollywood balls 20 times a game, but he always shows for the ball and pops it off calmly to a player around him, even when under pressure.
Tactical flexibility: Although Challinor tends to use a three-at-the-back system, he is not wedded to this style, which has seen Pye play in a two, on the left of a three and even at left-back on occasion, switching between each role without problem, and making him a viable option for almost any manager.
Aerial ability: Despite his age and relatively average height, Pye wins well over half of his aerial duals, combining his strength and game intelligence to find a way to the ball first against what are often physical strikers in the third tier.
Leadership: Pye often partners the likes of Brad Hills (21) in defence, and so while he is still developing himself, it often falls to the 23-year-old to organise County's defence, especially since the departure of Fraser Horsfall to Blackpool in the summer.
Pye's areas of development
Goalscoring: For all Pye's aerial ability, it rarely leads to goals at the other end (two in more than 125 outings) as you may expect from a refined, physical centre-back. That may be partly to do with often having target man Kyle Wootton to aim at from set-pieces, but Pye is still one of the main figures to aim at in such scenarios, so it feels like there could be more to come in that department.
Discipline: The timing of his tackles rarely gets Pye into trouble, but his reactions to opposition sometimes can. He's not got especially poor discipline, but watching him sometimes, it can seem as though opponents can get under his skin a little too easily, and he is sometimes a little too quick to react. It's no doubt something that will come with experience, but is certainly something to work on.
Ball-carrying: It's not that Pye doesn't ever carry the ball forward, but it doesn't feel like he does it as often as his technical abilities would allow. He's of an average pace, but defenders like Harry Maguire have proven that you don't need to be the quickest to advance play forward on your own. Challinor's three-at-the-back system provides ample cover on the last line, so in more stubborn games, Pye could use his talent to bomb forward and create an overload somewhere.
Pye's ceiling
Pye will play in the Championship over the next few years, of that there is no doubt. But whether that is with Stockport depends on their progress. Centre-back is a scalable position, and he has a heap of desirable attributes. And with the way Pye reads the game, if he adjusts to the second tier – as he has done with jumps in divisions previously – you wouldn't bet against him rising even higher.
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