Exclusive: Barrow respond to MK Dons’ Wyll Stanway offer
MK Dons have had a bid rejected for Barrow goalkeeper Wyll Stanway, sources have told Football Insider.
Stanway, 24, has impressed for Barrow since joining the club from Chester in the summer of 2024, and they have now rebuffed the advances from MK Dons.
MK Dons have spent big so far in January, and they now have the talented shot-stopper on their radar after he has kept five clean sheets in 25 appearances for Barrow so far this season.
League Two promotion hopefuls MK Dons are keen to bolster their goalkeeping options in this month’s transfer window, but Barrow have no intention of losing their number one in the middle of the season.
Wyll Stanway is among best in League Two for key stat
Barrow are occupying a precarious position in League Two at the moment, as they currently sit just six points above the relegation zone at the 25-game mark of the campaign.
The Bluebirds have won just one of their last 12 games in all competitions, and new manager Paul Gallagher has tasted defeat in his only outing in the dugout so far.
As a result, Barrow are not in a position where they are willing to lose their first-choice goalkeeper, not least when he ranks among the best glovemen in the league in a key metric.
Stanway’s tally of five clean sheets is not benefitting of one of the league’s best goalkeepers, but the rate at which he makes saves is far more impressive.
| Stats | Stanway Total | League Rank |
| Apps | 23 | N/A |
| Clean Sheets | 4 | =15th |
| Save Percentage | 69.7% | =8th |
| Saves per 90 | 3.4 | 2nd |
The former Chester man has averaged 3.4 saves per 90 in league action so far this term, a tally that only Cheltenham’s Joe Day can better across the entire division.
With that in mind, Barrow will have no designs on losing the 24-year-old, unless MK table an offer that they simply cannot refuse.
MK Dons set to spend their way to promotion
Football Insider recently revealed that Curtis Nelson was undergoing a medical at MK Dons ahead of a move to reunite with his former Derby County boss Paul Warne.
That move has now been confirmed, and the defender has become the Dons’ third addition of the winter window so far.
Undisclosed fees have been paid out to Derby, Huddersfield and Sunderland for the respective arrivals of Nelson, Ben Wiles and Jay Matete, and their spending looks unlikely to slow down any time soon.
The spine of the team has already been bolstered with plenty of experience from higher up the pyramid, and they are now targeting the addition of a promising young ‘keeper in Stanway.
Warne’s side are currently two points adrift of the automatic promotion places after a brief three-game winless run at the turn of the year, but they seem intent on splashing the cash to strengthen their chances of going up.