18-year-old central defender Ben Crompton is reported to be a summer target for Celtic after rejecting a contract extension with English League 1 side Shrewsbury Town.
Crompton, who had previously spent ten years coming through the Academy system with Wolves, arrived at the Shropshire club initially as a midfielder, however was converted to a central defender, and the change in position saw the player become a highly regarded member of the Shrewsbury Town Academy, to the point of training with the first team squad, although he had yet to make an appearance for the first team.
The Shropshire Star is reporting an offer of a contract has not been enough for Crompton to consider staying with Shrewsbury Town and instead the player will leave this summer and look at other options available to him – reporting Celtic as one of the clubs interested in securing Crompton’s services.
If links with Celtic are indeed accurate, it is likely Crompton is more likely to a player for the future rather than one to be joining Ange Postecoglou’s first team squad. Instead, the B-Team and the Lowland League under Tommy McIntyre may well be the destination for the ‘rangy’ central defender.
With Dane Murray currently recovering from an injury which appears has a long-term prognosis, perhaps Celtic may well see 6ft1 Crompton, described as a ‘technical’ player by his former club, as a central defensive option to replace Murray, if as expected the Celtic centre half, who was one of several B-Team players to both train and get gametime in the Celtic first team this season, is set for a lengthy period on the sidelines.
Something Crompton could all to easily relate to, having only recently returned from a long-term back injury himself.
Niall J
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