Lee Richardson appears to have admitted defeat in his attempts to keep Jan Kovacs at Chesterfield, despite offering him a fresh, improved deal this summer.
The Chesterfield centre back has been linked with the Imps and now Spireites manager Lee Richardson has said he expects the player to join Peter Jackson's revolution.
"I have a player lined up to replace Janos Kovacs who I expect will be leaving and it looks likely that he will be joining Lincoln City, with a fee to be settled by tribunal if there is no agreement between the clubs, If that happens then we wish him well. We made him a better offer than he was on last season."
The blow won't be softened by Chesterfield today also losing their keeper Barry Roche to Shrewsbury, possibly to better terms than Chesterfield were offering. Richardson continued:
"I think Lincoln may have bettered our deal and he also probably feels he will have a freer run in terms of playing more games. Most players want to play week in and week out but what they sometimes do not appreciate is that players have to play well and perform well to be regular."
Richardson managed a slight dig at Lincoln towards the end of the statement, claiming Kovacs may find life easier at Sincil Bank.
"So he may have also felt that it would have been more of a challenge to be regular here than at Lincoln."
It seems far more plausible that at Sincil Bank Kovacs has seen a progressive club with excellent facilities likely to launch a serious attempt at an automatic promotion spot next season.