Although the door has not been finally closed on a potential deal, the Spireites are not hanging about either and continue to make plans for next season.
Already three players have committed themselves for the future by agreeing deals, former Sheffield United captain Rob Page, former Port Vale captain Paul Harsley, and Spireites out-of-contract midfielder Derek Niven.
Chesterfield manager Lee Richardson said: "Peter Leven has made his intentions clear that he hopes that a club at a higher level will come in for him. We had made him an excellent offer but respect his desire to move on if he so wishes."
He added: "We haven't closed the door entirely on the matter but we have to move on as well with our plans for next season."
Commenting on the £100k offer from Brighton for Peter Leven turned down in January on transfer deadline day, Lee Richardson said: "It was the right decision at the time, and we would have been rightly criticised for cashing in on a key player when we were in the midst of a serious promotion challenge."
The Spireites have also made offers to two other out-of-contract players, defenders Phil Picken and Janos Kovacs and their responses are currently awaited
