Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea are reportedly pursuing the talented, Nick Powell, from Crewe Alexandra.
However, the League two side have ruled out the possibility of the striker’s move to the top flight clubs in the summer, pointing out that the player is likely to stay for at least another year. Crewe have set the worth of the 18 year old to be close to
1.5 million pounds.
The promising young striker made his debut for Crewe in August 2010 but was unable to make an impact during his first season. However, he has been in scintillating form in the current season and has scored 12 goals in 37 appearances so far. He also won the
League Young Player of the Month award in December, 2011.
He is currently playing as a striker/ attacking midfielder for the Cheshire side. The second tier club has been approached before for the player by Arsenal, back in January, 2011.
A source knowledgeable on the issue told, “All the big clubs are looking at Nick Powell. There have been approaches from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786, as well as Manchester City. But they have been told he is not available.”
Dario Gradi, the Crewe Director of Football, is believed to be against the player’s move to a bigger club at the moment. The 70 year old also remained the manager of the side from 1983 to 2007.
“Crewe rate him in the seven figure category, even up to £1.5m but they don’t want to sell and Dario Gradi is adamant he won’t leave. Historically, he is very good at persuading young players to serve their apprenticeships before moving to the big clubs.”
The source added.
Earlier, Gradi held on to the West Ham United player Dean Ashton for almost four years, before selling him to Norwich City for a three million pound fee in January 2005. It is likely that Crewe are planning on doing the same with Powell.
According to the source, “Ashton is a good example of Crewe holding on to a player that most other lower leagues clubs would have sold far earlier.”
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