Carlisle United's Paul Simpson reacts to Joe Riley's decision to leave - and others he wants to keep

The Blues had offered Riley new terms but the 25-year-old has already confirmed he will not be staying at Brunton Park.

The former Manchester United and Bradford City player also claimed he had “not been valued as highly as I’d hoped” after his two seasons with United.

Manager Simpson stressed that Carlisle had been keen for the player to stay.

“My understanding in contract negotiations [in how] it normally works is we make an offer, they come back with a counter offer and we try and agree somewhere in the middle,” Simpson said today.

Riley has left United after two seasons with the club (photo: Richard Parkes)

“We made an offer to Joe, and I’ve been informed today he’s already posted that he’s leaving the club and he’s not signing.

“That’s news to me, but good luck to him. He must have something else, and no doubt we’ll see him around somewhere.”

Riley was one of four players offered a new deal by the Cumbrians.

READ MORE: Carlisle United's Joe Riley reveals he is leaving the Blues

Speculation has linked the versatile player with a move to another League Two club.

Simpson said he had received no warning that the offer was set to be rejected, having met Riley for discussions three days before Monday’s decisions were announced.

“I actually spoke to Joe on Friday, because he was unavailable for the [Bradford] game,” he said.

“I agreed to do that, which was against what I really wanted to do, because he’s starting on a coaching course this week which is great credit to him that he’s also looking to the future.

“At no point did he say to me, ‘That’s not happening, it won’t be on’, but I’ve heard there was something got put on Twitter.

“Good luck to him. It’s football. We can’t worry about things like that, we just have to deal with it and move on.

Simpson announced his decisions on contracts on Monday (photo: Richard Parkes)

“At least I know now I’m not waiting until May 30 to get a response from Joe. I know now that he’s gone and good luck to him.”

Riley, in the statement he posted on social media on Monday night, said he wanted to thank United for giving him an opportunity in 2020 “when no-one else would”.

He said he had “grown to love the club” but also said: “Please don’t believe everything you read on Twitter, even if you think it’s from a credible source.

“Unfortunately, the truth of not being valued as highly as I’d have hoped after 84 games here will never be communicated for you all but it was clear for me to see.

“I wish Carlisle nothing but the best for the future, you fans deserve it.”

Simpson, speaking after the 2-0 defeat at Bradford City on Saturday, said that one of the players he wanted to keep had been “tapped up” by another club but would not be drawn on who that was.

The manager is hoping the other three players offered deals – Taylor Charters, Magnus Norman and Brennan Dickenson – will stay.

Taylor Charters (photo: Barbara Abbott)

“With Taylor Charters, I’ve watched clips of him when he’s been out [on loan] at Gateshead, and I went to see him myself,” he said.

“I see him being a young player who still has room for development and I hope we can keep him at the club so I can work with him.

“I think he can have an impact in our group. He ticks the box in terms of how we want to play; he can play as a left wing-back, or in one of those midfield slots, whether I’m playing with two holding midfielders and a ten, or one holding midfielder and two eights.

“He can play as a left-sided forward if I want to go with a front three. He ticks the box in giving me a little bit of versatility.

“Magnus I see as a goalkeeper who I still think has a lot of things he needs to work on to improve on, but I think he’s got the physical attributes for something to work on to be a decent goalkeeper.

“If we bring another goalkeeper in, it would be up to him to show me he deserves to be No1 and challenge the other guy, so that’s the challenge for him so I’d like to keep him.

“Brennan Dickenson is a player who I think has real good qualities, I think he’s got strength, a lovely left foot, and it’s probably been a bit unfair on him recently because he’s not played in his favourite position, but that’s my fault because of lack of availability of midfield players.

“I hope they will all come in and agree terms with us. We’ve made offers to them. I’m hoping we can come to an agreement.”

READ MORE: Carlisle United fans give their views on retained and released list