Manchester City forward joins League Two’s Stockport County on loan

Stockport County have confirmed the signing of Manchester City academy forward Ben Knight on loan until the end of the 2023/24 season.

Knight will be embarking on the second loan spell since joining Manchester City in 2021 from Ipswich Town, having linked up with Crewe Alexandra during the 2021/22 campaign.

However, since returning to Manchester City from his time with Crewe, Knight’s career has been blighted by a number of injury setbacks, pushing prospective moves away from the Etihad Stadium to develop his career further back.

Now, confirmation has arrived that Ben Knight will be playing his football in EFL League Two for the remainder of the season, with Manchester City finalising a long, drawn-out process with one of the region’s well-followed local sides.

As confirmed in a statement by promotion-chasing Stockport County this week, Ben Knight has left nearby Manchester City to link-up with Dave Challinor’s side on a temporary agreement until the end of the season.

The confirmation of a deal was accompanied by the simultaneous arrival of former Queens Park Rangers and Coventry City full-back Todd Kane on an identical agreement, having trained with the County squad in recent weeks.

Stockport County director of football, Simon Wilson offered his take on the arrival of Ben Knight, providing insight into how negotiations and the desire to recruit the Manchester City man reached it’s conclusion this week.

“Ben initially came to train with us in the summer, but unfortunately had a set-back very early in the training period which meant we couldn’t get a full look at him,” Wilson said. “All parties agreed to re-look at things on his return and so, after he had worked very hard with City to rehabilitate, in January Ben came back in to train with us again.”

The Stockport County director continued, “Given his time out we all agreed to take things slow, and although he signed in the January window, we did not want to put pressure on him by making an announcement until we all felt more certain he was ready to play.

“Now, after 6-7 weeks now of steady and measured progress we are delighted to say Ben comes into our group and is available for selection. He is a talented creative attacking player who we feel strengthens our attacking options for the final run in.”

We wish Ben every success during his temporary stay with Stockport County during the remainder of the ongoing campaign!