Paul Simpson insisted Carlisle United were largely powerless to hold onto teenager Ryan Carr in the face of interest from Ipswich Town.

The 18-year-old midfielder joined the League One club on transfer deadline day.

Simpson said that, once it was clear Carr was keen to sign for the Tractor Boys, Carlisle tried to get the best deal they could.

The manager said that, while United would have preferred to have kept the teenager, they were limited in their negotiating ability by the way deals for youth players are structured under the Elite Player Performance Plan.

Simpson revealed Ipswich made their move for Carr in December.

“They asked if they could have a look at him in training, which we did. We let him go down there, which I think is only fair to the boy, because he wanted to go and see what it was like,” Simpson said.

“So we let him go and train, and they told us they were really interested and they left it right until this weekend to come in with an offer for him.

“We did as much haggling as we possibly could. Unfortunately, the way that the EPPP system is and the compensation, we didn't really have a hell of a lot of power, because he's only been with us for two years as part of his development.

“He's a player who we think has got a future. And we’d have been delighted to keep him in the future.

“Unfortunately, they they've got us a little bit in the situation. That's no slant on Ipswich – they’ve been very professional in the way they've gone about it.

“It's just that the compensation wouldn't have been worth going to a tribunal about. So we've accepted a minimal fee and we wish Ryan all the best and hope he continues to develop like he has with us.”

Carr had been around the first-team squad this season and made his professional debut in a Papa John’s Trophy game against Fleetwood Town.

News and Star: Carr starred for United's youth team and made his first-team debut this seasonCarr starred for United's youth team and made his first-team debut this season (Image: Barbara Abbott)

He will now go into Ipswich’s under-21 squad.

The deal will include potential future financial benefits for United, including a sell-on clause, depending on Carr’s development with the Tractor Boys.

Simpson explained the difficulty in holding onto players in such circumstances, given the power bigger clubs can wield in the EPPP academy system.

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One of his predecessors, Steven Pressley, had bemoaned the fact lower-league clubs were having to offer deals to young players prematurely, in order to protect themselves against predators.

Simpson said: “We have a problem here because in the last few years contracts have been offered early to scholars, but what then happens is the ones who haven't been offered contracts just chuck it in when it comes to the education.

“We have a duty of care to make sure that they do their education properly. So if we tell a couple of lads in December they're getting a contract the other second years think, ‘Hang on, I'm not getting one’.

“And so they chuck the towel in on the education, and we've made a commitment that we're going to give them education so that they go away from the club with something.

“So we made a point to them when we had a meeting with the academy in November. I said no decisions will be made until the summer – they all have to finish their education so that if they don't get a contract here, they leave with something behind them in terms of points to get to university.

“So you do leave yourself a little bit open. But regardless of that, the players have agents and if they know that a club from a higher level and with more money than Carlisle United are there, they just turn the contract down in the summer, they go to a tribunal and we’d have got less than we've got in this situation.

“So we've just got we've got to take it on the chin and we'll keep doing what we're doing and hope that it doesn't happen very often.”