Blues boss Paul Jewell says new signing Elliott Hewitt impressed him a great deal when he watched him in action for Macclesfield and the Welsh U21s last season. The 18-year-old, who is recovering from hip operations he underwent while with the Silkmen, signed a three-year contract at the end of May after moving for an initial £250,000 fee.
Jewell said: "We’ve decided to really try to improve the squad from a young aspect. We think Elliott’s going to be a good player. He’s not going to be fit until September or maybe late August.
"We watched him six or seven times last year, I watched him for the Welsh U21s and he impressed me an awful lot. He’s only 18 and he’s going to be a good player in the future.”
The Blues boss says he’s looking to assemble a more settled squad going forward after several years of instability at the club, both before and after his appointment: "I think at this club, certainly since I’ve been here, there’s been constant change almost, a constant turnover of players. We want to try and get players who are going to be here [long-term].
"We might have to use one or two loan players, but the likes of an Elliott Hewitt or an Aaron Cresswell, we want them to be here for a long time. And Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Josh Carson, people like that.
"We want them to be here as something to build the club on. From my point we’ve tried to have a quick-fix every week and I think it’s about time that we look a bit further forward than just one season.”
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