Bizarre details emerge of Blackpool striker's last-ditch move from Wrexham to Chesterfield

Adi Yussuf and Wrexham boss Dean Keates have provided an eye-opening insight into how the Blackpool striker left his loan spell at the Racecourse Ground to join league rivals Chesterfield.
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The striker was announced as a Chesterfield player on Tuesday, agreeing a loan deal with the option to make it permanent at the end of the season.

The previous night, the 28-year-old had been travelling down to Eastleigh with Wrexham, where he had been on loan from Blackpool.

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Yussuf, who scored five goals in 18 games for Keates’ side, was on the team bus when news of Chesterfield’s interest emerged.

With Yussuf still contracted to Blackpool, a quick decision had to be made because of the 11pm transfer deadline for EFL clubs.

"I was on the Wrexham coach on the way to Eastleigh, we were staying overnight,” Yussuf explained to the Derbyshire Times.

“I got a phone call from my agent saying everything has been agreed.

Yussuf will remain in the National League with ChesterfieldYussuf will remain in the National League with Chesterfield
Yussuf will remain in the National League with Chesterfield
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“I had to get off the coach and say my goodbyes to the Wrexham boys because obviously I was only on loan from Blackpool.

“I was literally asleep on the coach at 4-5 o’clock and then everything just progressed within the space of an hour.

"I had to get off the coach on the motorway at the service station and get a taxi to Chesterfield, three-and-a-half, four hours away.”

Wrexham boss Keates didn’t appear to be especially pleased, given it gave him precious time to find a replacement.

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Chesterfield offered Yussuf and his young family ‘stability’, Keates said, and that in the end he had to sanction the move because he had to think about the player’s ‘mindset’ if he blocked the deal.

“I spoke to people at the football club and we came to an agreement that he could get off the coach and wait at the services and then if anything happens he could get a taxi up to Chesterfield or a taxi down to Eastleigh,” Keates said.

“So then I have to think about the group, Adi’s mindset.

“This is not me knocking Adi at all.

"The fact he had gone there, signed, his mind was turned from being at the football club so then I had to think about my changing room because if said ‘no’ then you have to think how is his mindset going to be? I had a decision to make and I had to sanction it.”

The striker, who joined Blackpool on a free transfer from Solihull Moors in 2019, hasn’t featured in a competitive outing for the Seasiders.

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Yussuf signed a two-year deal at Bloomfield Road having impressed in Solihull’s FA Cup ties against the Seasiders.

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