Following continued speculation, Carlisle United is today issuing a statement explaining that they would have no alternative but to sell Joe Garner once they have been offered £1.14 million for him.

Under the terms of the contract that he and his agent insisted on before Joe signed for the Blues from Blackburn Rovers in August last year, the player would be able to leave Brunton Park when another club offers £1million on top of the £140,000 record fee Carlisle paid for him.

Those conditions were reluctantly accepted by Carlisle United because, at that time, Joe was on the brink of signing for SPL outfit Dundee United when he changed his mind and instead signed for the Blues, but only on those terms on top of the ones insisted on by Blackburn.

Joe's contract also states that while Carlisle will receive (from the total transfer fee) the £140,000 they paid for him, half of the remaining £1 million will go to Blackburn under a sell-on arrangement. Blackburn will also have a 50% cut of any future sell-on from any purchasing club.

After allowing for Blackburn's £500,000, that would leave £640,000 for Carlisle, from which a further 5% of the £1 million would go to the player or his representatives under the terms of the contract.

That means that from a £1.14 million bid which triggers Joe's release, Carlisle will receive £590,000 for a player they signed for £140,000 when aged just 19, and who went on to score 14 goals in 34 appearances for the Blues last season before being injured at Crewe in February.

The club would like to point out that the same financial conditions would have applied to the £1 million bid it was able to turn down from Bristol City for Joe in the January transfer window last season.

Carlisle United's chief executive David Allen, who is one of the club's four new owners, said: "We have always wanted to keep Joe. He is extremely popular with our fans and everyone at the club. Of course, he is also a great young player with tremendous potential who is working extremely hard to recover from a very serious injury, which is likely to sideline him for several more months. But there is nothing we can do to stop Nottingham Forest, or any other club for that matter, speaking to Joe once they have reached the £1.14 million trigger. Our relationships with Forest and with Joe remain good but I would like to stress that it was not Carlisle United who informed Forest of the £1.14 million trigger. As I say, we have always wanted to keep Joe as a Carlisle United player and we are mindful that he still has two years to run on his contract with us."

Meanwhile, Carlisle United are actively continuing their quest to make further signings to enhance their squad before the start of the next season.