Carlisle United have beaten the transfer deadline to bring Joshua Kayode back to Brunton Park.

The striker has joined from Rotherham United on a season-long loan.

The Blues had been locked in negotiations for much of deadline day over a move for the 23-year-old.

And in the last hour of the window they confirmed that the frontman, who had two previous loan spells at Brunton Park, is returning to bolster Paul Simpson’s League One attack.

Simpson had long been pursuing a target man and will hope the 6ft 3in forward will prove an asset to United’s bid to find their feet in the third tier.

With Kayode’s arrival confirmed in the last hour before the 11pm deadline, the striker has joined too late to feature in Saturday’s home clash with Shrewsbury Town, with deals needing to be complete by 12pm on Friday in order for the player to be in Saturday's squad.

News and Star: Kayode had two previous loan spells with the Blues from 2020-21Kayode had two previous loan spells with the Blues from 2020-21 (Image: PA)

A possible third debut for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international could instead come in the EFL Trophy at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday, before United’s next league game at Stevenage next weekend.

United had faced repeated frustration in their striker hunt throughout the summer window and things went down to the wire in the final hours of trading.

Kayode was among the players they had targeted from an early stage in the window - "we've enquired about him for many months" said Simpson - but his situation at Rotherham remained unclear as the window progressed.

The striker was also the subject of interest from other clubs, with Barnsley and Fleetwood Town having been linked.

But he now rejoins a club for whom he played on loan in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 League Two seasons.

Simpson later spoke of his delight at getting the deal over the line, saying that a permanent move had been discussed in negotiations.

“Over the day today there was talk of it being maybe a permanent deal, and then that went away and there were other clubs involved as well," said Simpson.

“We then got to the place where we could get a loan agreement, so it seems to have been one thing after another.

“I don’t know whether this is normal or not because this is the first time I’ve been doing this type of thing on a final day.

“All of our business tends to be done early because that’s how we prefer it to be. We’ve stuck at it and eventually we got there.

“Greg [Abbott, head of recruitment] has been at it all day long. We were out training and he was waiting by the phone to see if we could take the next steps, so it has been a long and drawn out affair.

“Whatever the issues were I’m just delighted that we’ve finally got there.”

Simpson said he believes Kayode will make an impact in League One, adding: "He has pace, power, he can create and score, he has the long throw, which is something a bit different, and importantly he has a real presence about him."

In his first half-season spell Kayode scored three goals in five appearances in early 2020 before the season was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He returned for the full season in 2020/21 and netted eight goals in 36 appearances under Chris Beech.

Kayode has since had a loan spell at MK Dons where, last season, he was limited to just nine outings because of injury.

After returning to fitness he has made five appearances for Rotherham this term, four sub outings in the Championship and a start and a goal against Morecambe in the Carabao Cup.

As with most such season loans, the deal includes a January review. 

Shortly after Kayode's arrival, Carlisle confirmed there would be no further business on deadline day.

The only other activity was young midfielder Kai Nugent's loan move to Annan Athletic.

An otherwise quiet day of activity meant United made it through the summer window without losing star midfielder Owen Moxon.