CITY view Jake Young as a new signing for next season after effectively ruling him out of a return before then.

Young has been sidelined since undergoing surgery for a hamstring injury five weeks ago.

Graham Alexander admitted at the time that it would be a long shot to see him again this season.

And the City boss has confirmed that diagnosis as he prepares to wait to see Young return properly in the summer.

“He won’t be back,” said Alexander. “Because of the nature of the injury and he’s had surgery, we don’t want to take any risk for one or two games unless we’re absolutely 100 per cent sure that there’s no potential damage.

“He’s nowhere near right now and my gut says that he’ll be next season. For the long-term benefits of Jake, that’s probably the best course of action anyway.

“I could be surprised and he gets back before the end of the season and it would be great.

“I’d love the option to have him available. But we have to do the right thing by the player as well.”

Young has been restricted to just 153 minutes in four outings in City colours since being recalled in January.

The Bantams batted away three bids during the transfer window for the striker following his 16-goal loan spell at Swindon.

Carlisle were one of two sides from League One to have offers rejected – and City were not impressed that the Cumbrians went public about it.

They finally put the conjecture to bed when Young was named in the squad to face Swindon at the end of the month.

He came on at half-time for his first senior appearance for City since October 2022 but was unable to help them turn around a 2-0 deficit.

Alexander then started Young at home against Wimbledon and he played just over an hour in the goalless draw.

Young came off the bench for the final quarter of City’s dramatic win at Wrexham and made another second-half sub appearance in as MK Dons were beaten 4-0.

But he finished the game in clear discomfort and subsequent tests revealed a serious hamstring issue.

Young’s absence has been another injury frustration for Alexander, particularly with City’s ongoing struggles in front of goal.

He does, though, see the 21-year-old’s eventual return as a long-term positive.

Alexander added: “I see him in my plans like that.

“We brought him back and had the period when he had an injury and was out for three weeks.

“He got in the team and we were really excited for the potential for him.

“The whole purpose of January was to improve our firepower. We brought Jake Young back, we got Tyreik (Wright) in who’s scored a couple of goals, we brought Calum Kavanagh in who’s scored a couple of goals.

“We’ve tried to improve the issue we had but unfortunately we lost Tyreik for another month and then Jake again.

“But when he’s ready for pre-season, for me it will be like having a new player because I’ve had such a limited time working with him unfortunately.”