Shrewsbury Town will offer Junior Brown a new deal
Shrewsbury will start contracts talks with Junior Brown – while boss Paul Hurst insisted clubs would need to ‘shell out’ to prize away star Jon Nolan.
Reports this week have suggested a host of clubs are lining up a move for injured left-back Brown, 28, whose Montgomery Waters Meadow deal runs out this summer.
Meanwhile, Championship clubs Sheffield United, Leeds and Norwich have been linked with swoops for in-form midfielder Nolan.
Hurst revealed he wants Brown, who has not played since picking up an ACL injury in October, to be at Shrewsbury next season, regardless of whether his side win promotion.
“I’m sure there will be interest but whether or not it would get to the signing point I don’t know. Does he (Brown) have to prove his fitness there?” Hurst said.
“I will happily say that I want Junior here. We will have discussions on that. “I see him every day. He’s still a really good character around the place. I see him working extremely hard to get back even better than he was before.
“From my point of view I want him to be part of this football club. Fit or not fit we need to come to an agreement, but there’ll certainly be something put to Junior.”
Midfielder Nolan, 25, has scored two in two games and has eight goals in his debut Town campaign.
His skilful performances have impressed as Hurst’s side, who host AFC Wimbledon tomorrow, mix it at the top of League One.
“I know people have been to watch his games,” the boss added.
“I’m sure there are a few (players) making clubs think about next season.
“A couple of clubs I’ve seen (linked) have certainly got lots of financial clout behind them and they’d need it – that’s all I would say.
“It’d be a win-win situation. But as we’ve said before, we don’t need to sell. There is certainly nothing that’s been put on the table that I’m aware of.
“When I came in, it was something myself and the chairman spoke about. Moving forward we were both of the opinion there was no valuable assets on the playing side.
“In our recruitment we looked at age and whether there was development. We’ve had quite a lot step up and now teams would be interested.
“Whether or not they’d want to shell out as much as it would cost to get them out is another thing. It’s a nice position for the football club to be in.”
