[themaclad]

League Two club Barrow have signed Liverpool midfielder Luca Stephenson on loan for the rest of the season.

The 19-year-old was a regular in the Premier League side's under-21 team last season and previously captained the under-18s.

Stephenson is a product of the Sunderland academy and can also play at centre-back and full-back.

"We've done our homework and we feel he'll be a really good addition to the group," Barrow manager Pete Wild said.

He added: "Hopefully we can help Luca on his journey like we've done with other loan players in the past."

Stephenson said he was "delighted" to have secured his first senior loan move.

"I'm hoping to learn a lot whilst I'm here, from the manager and staff as well as the players who have been there and done it at this level before," he said.

"I will bring a lot of energy and some goals and assists to the table and I can't wait to get going."

[themaclad]

League Two club Barrow have signed Liverpool midfielder Luca Stephenson on loan for the rest of the season and free agent James Chester until January.

Stephenson, 19, was a regular in Liverpool's under-21 team last season and previously captained the under-18s.

Stephenson is a product of the Sunderland academy and can also play at centre-back and full-back.

Ex-Wales, Hull City and Aston Villa centre-back Chester, 34, was at Derby last season and has been on trial.

[themaclad]

Barrow have signed striker Cole Stockton on loan from Burton Albion for the rest of the League Two season.

The 29-year-old forward joined the League One Brewers in the summer but has scored only one goal in 16 games since his move from Morecambe.

Stockton returns to his native North-West in signing for the Bluebirds, and lists Tranmere, Hearts, Southport and Carlisle among his former sides.

"I'm excited to get going now," Stockton told the club website.

"It's just everything I've heard about the club and the direction it's going in now, and everyone to do with the club has worked incredibly hard to get the club to where it is now and I'm looking forward to being a part of that and helping push the club forward."

Stockton has scored 101 goals in 407 games since his debut for Tranmere Rovers in January 2012.

Pete Wild's Bluebirds are fourth in the table, five points behind leaders Stockport

[themaclad]

Barrow's Elliot Newby, Paul Farman and Niall Canavan have extended their contracts until the summer of 2025.

The three first-team regulars all triggered clauses which extend current deals until the end of next season.

Centre-back Canavan, 32, is the only Barrow player to have started every league game this season and played every league minute last season.

Winger Newby, 28, and keeper Farman, 34, have also met the terms of the clause, which relates to appearances.

Canavan, who has played at a higher level with Scunthorpe, Rochdale, and Plymouth, and joined from Bradford in 2022, told the club website: "There's been a lot of change since I've come in, a lot of differences both on and off the pitch but I've really enjoyed it.

"When I came in, I knew it would be a different kind of challenge to what I'm used to but I've enjoyed it all and I'm looking forward to what the future holds."

Barrow are two points off an automatic promotion spot in League Two, and Farman said: "It's got better and better every year and when the gaffer and Temps [assistant manager Adam Temple] came in they promised the club would keep getting better, and since they've come in we've come on leaps and bounds as a club, as a community and as a team."

[themaclad]

Barrow have released 10 players after missing out on a League Two play-off place.

The Bluebirds failed to win any of their final seven matches to slip out of the top seven on the final day.

Veteran defender James Chester, 35, and forward Ben Whitfield, 28, have been offered new deals.

George Ray, Jamie Proctor, Tom White, Courtney Duffus, Sam Foley, Tyrell Warren, Rory Feely, Owen Bray, Malakai Reeve, Sam Bellis have all been released.

Sean Etaluku, Junior Tiensia, Niall Canavan, Elliot Newby, Paul Farman have had one-year contract extensions triggered.