Matt Tootle joined Crewe Alexandra at the age of 8 and ever since then, he had become a regular starter for the English side as he made over 190 appearances for the club but his relationship with Crewe Alexandra has reached it’s end as Matt Tootle decided to join Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer which was completed a few days ago on June 16.
The 24 year old defender was out of contract with Crewe Alexandra and even though he had struggled with injuries and physical problems, Matt was still offered a contract extension by the English League One club but instead he decided to join Shrewsbury Town on a 2 year long deal.
Steve Davies of Crewe Alexandra revealed details concerning the outgoing as the manager said: “I have always got on well with him and had a good working relationship with him. I have spoken to him since; he rang me to pass on his thanks to all the staff at the football club. He has been here a long time it was a wrench to leave the club that has been a secure place for him where he has spent a lot of his life.’’
“He will be missed around the place, he’s a good player, but Shrewsbury offered him a deal that we couldn’t match both in terms of money and length of contract, we couldn’t compete. It was his decision, we left it with him after making him an offer but he has gone with the deal that Shrewsbury put to him’’
The manager of Crewe Alexandra is well aware of why so many youngsters are leaving the club as Matt Tootle the only one who has opted to make a move away from the club, this has happened on numerous occasions in the past.
Nick Powell, Ashley Westwood, Luke Murphy and Byron Moore are some other cases of young player deciding to leave Crewe Alexandra as they have a better chance of getting into bigger teams by exiting Gresty Road but Davies is still hoping that with the current batch of players that he has at his disposal will be enough to compete for the higher spots of the English League One.