Brian Caldwell: Shrewsbury Town stars Jon Nolan and Toto Nsiala won't go cheaply
Brian Caldwell has told Ipswich Town to stump up the cash if they want to prise star duo Jon Nolan and Toto Nsiala from Shrewsbury Town.
The two players handed transfer requests in yesterday after Town rejected bids for the pair from a Championship club.
Caldwell refused to name the side involved, but the Shropshire Star understands it is Ipswich – now managed by Town’s former boss Paul Hurst.
The Montgomery Waters Meadow chief executive last week insisted it would take ‘silly money’ for Town to agree to sell their best players. And while he admits Town don’t want to keep unhappy players, he says Nolan and Nsiala will only go if an acceptable offer comes in.
“Bids need to meet our valuation, we won’t be selling players on the cheap,” he said.
“We want players who want to be at Shrewsbury and who are not looking to jump ship at the first opportunity.”
Caldwell, who has been in regular contact with boss John Askey, admits he was bewildered by the way the offer was made on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s the first time in 25 years I’ve ever had an offer come through via text message,” he told the BBC.
“We put a statement out because we felt the fans deserved to know.
“I’ve always said we’ll be open where we possible can. We felt we should be up front about it and inform the fans what’s going on behind the scenes.”
Midfielder Nolan made 43 appearances for Salop last season as they just missed out on promotion from League One, scoring nine goals.
Nsiala has played 65 times since joining the club in January of last year. Both also played under Hurst at Grimsby Town.
Nolan has two years remaining on his contract while centre-half Nsiala has just one.
And their desire to leave will be a big blow to new boss Askey just days before the League One curtain-raiser at home to Bradford City.
