"Unbelievable" Stockport County star tipped to become a "Premier League player" | OneFootball

Stockport County's Ethan Pye has been tipped to reach the Premier League at some point in his career.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Stockport County are looking to continue their fantastic rise up the EFL, with promotion from League One the aim this season.

The club have made huge strides under Dave Challinor, going from the National League to the third tier, and the journey doesn’t look as though it’s ending any time soon.

That’s because they are fifth in League One right now, and there will be a belief around Stockport that they can go up via the play-offs.

Ethan Pye identified as key Stockport County man

Whilst the excellence of Challinor should be recognised, the reality is that it’s a real collective effort at Stockport, from the hierarchy to the players on the pitch.

Naturally, to be in the mix for promotion, there is a lot of quality in the squad at Edgeley Park, and the group deserve huge credit for coping with the mid-season loss of loanee Louie Barry.

Following his departure, it may be hard for observers to pinpoint the standout player at the club, but when asked by FLW which County player would sell for the most money in the summer, fan pundit James insisted that there’s only one possible option - as he heaped praise on defender Ethan Pye.

“I really, really advise we don’t sell him in the summer, but I’d definitely go for Ethan Pye.

“He has been phenomenal this season, a rock at the back. He is the centre of our team after Louie Barry returned to Aston Villa from his loan, and he’s a local lad which is really good.

“I can see a very, very big fee by League One standards coming in from a Championship club in the summer if we don’t go up. He’s just so, so talented, and he is young as well, so he has got the potential to get better.

“Pye is the one player in the squad now who I think could become a Premier League player in the future. I know that’s a bit drastic to say, but I truly believe it. He is an unbelievable centre-back, and I don’t think we should sell him in the summer, but I can imagine there will be bids.

“He would get the most money, and I don’t think there are many standouts in our team really. After Barry left, I think we’ve got better as a team, as we’ve got more compact, and we are less reliant on one player. Before that, it was give him the ball, and he will do the rest.

“Ollie Norwood has been good, but he is ageing, so he won’t have a price tag, and he will stick around for another season.

“We’ve got a compact team that works well together, with Pye the only standout individual.”

Ethan Pye is capable of playing at a higher level

As outlined above, it’s a real team effort at Stockport, so it does feel unfair to single out individuals, but there’s no doubt that Pye is a player with huge potential.

At 22, he is performing at a high level week in, week out in League One, and it’s natural that clubs further up the pyramid will be taking notice.

Most will agree that failure to go up could result in Pye moving on, but Stockport will be in a position to demand a substantial fee, as he is under contract until the summer of 2027.

That has to be the model for clubs like Stockport, who are proving shrewd when it comes to developing players, and it will allow them to build a better project in the future.

But, the only concern for Pye right now will be to help Stockport’s promotion push, as he tries to reach the Championship with the club.