Exclusive: Lincoln City, Mansfield Town, Port Vale and Northampton Town battle to sign Blackpool FC star | OneFootball

Lincoln City, Mansfield Town, Port Vale and Northampton Town are all battling for the signature of Blackpool star Jordan Gabriel, FLW understands.

Lincoln City, Mansfield Town, Port Vale and Northampton Town are all battling for the signature of out of contract Blackpool star Jordan Gabriel, sources have exclusively informed Football League World.

The 26-year-old defender made 37 total appearances for the Tangerines this past season, with 30 of those coming in League One.

However, the Nottingham Forest academy graduate is out of contract at Bloomfield Road in June, and alongside the club's retained list announcement, he has already confirmed he will be leaving the club via an Instagram post on 5 May.

Football League World has exclusively been informed that League One clubs Northampton Town, Mansfield Town, Lincoln City and newly promoted League Two side Port Vale are battling it out to sign soon-to-be Blackpool free agent, Jordan Gabriel.

Earlier this month, The Deck revealed that numerous League Two, League One and Championship clubs were taking an interest in the full-back, with Burton Albion, Reading, Doncaster Rovers and Notts County all credited with an interest in the report.

However, it was also stated that "several" other third tier sides had asked to be kept in the loop over his availability, and now FLW has learnt who some of those other clubs are.

Jordan Gabriel would be a shrewd addition for a League One side to make this summer

Free transfers are pretty much always fairly low-risk, high-reward deals.

Therefore, signing a proven League One performer for nothing would surely be a highly shrewd piece of business for any of Northampton Town, Mansfield Town, Lincoln City or Port Vale to make.

Capable of playing at centre-back as well as his more natural position at right-back, Gabriel is in the prime of his career at 26, and has vast amounts of League One experience and pedigree to his name.

He's made 78 League One appearances over the course of his career to date, whilst racking up a further 46 in the Championship (per Transfermarkt), which suggests that he could well be a player that could be taken into the second tier should promotion be won if he signs for a third tier side this summer.

Gabriel also knows exactly what it takes to win promotion from League One, having been a part of Blackpool's play-off final-winning squad in the 2020/21 season.

As such, teams at that level could surely do far worse than securing the signature of a vastly experienced League One defender and promotion-winner on a free transfer this summer.