Contract poser for Shrewsbury players
Shrewsbury Town chief executive Brian Caldwell believes out-of-contract players need to ‘realise the gravity’ of football’s finances following the coronavirus pandemic.
The club announced its retained and released list this month – keeping hold of 16, releasing four and offering new contracts to five.
Josh Laurent, Omar Beckles, Ryan Barnett, Harry Burgoyne and Cameron Gregory are all in discussions over new deals, but are yet to sign them – and Caldwell is hopeful that they can reach an agreement.
“There are a few out of contract with offers and we just have to wait and see what’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s difficult to know what players are thinking just now and whether they realise the gravity of the situation in football.
“We need to see whether they’ve realised that perhaps sometimes it’s better to accept any offer you do get in case they don’t get an offer elsewhere.
“It is good this year to have so many players in contract, which certainly makes everybody’s life a bit easier to be honest. We have the basis of the squad there and it helps massively with the workload in the summer.”
Shrewsbury were better prepared than most to weather the pandemic, but lost income still runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Other clubs are fighting for their future, especially with it remaining unclear when fans will be allowed back into football stadiums – and with hundreds of players soon to be out of contract, many may be lost to the game.
