Jayson Leutwiler added to the Town keeper options
Swiss keeper Jayson Leutwiler has this morning finalised the paperwork on a two-year deal to join Shrewsbury Town.
Jayson started his career with Swiss side Basel but has spent the last two seasons with Championship side Middlesbrough.
He flew back into England yesterday and after meeting Micky Mellon in the afternoon was back at the club this morning to sign on the dotted line.
Jayson comes in to compete for the goalkeeper shirt with recent addition Mark Halstead who joined new-look Shrewsbury Town late last week.
“I came here yesterday and it was a very positive talk and I’m now really looking forward to the start of the season, said Jayson.
“Once I’d spoke to the manager and looked around the stadium I had no hesitation making the decision and it is now a great opportunity for me to play at this club.”
Jayson joins the new-look Shrewsbury Town side that Micky Mellon is starting to build. The timing is good for any new player as there will be a lot of new faces as Town start their fightback to return to League 1:
"I heard that it is a completely new team and heard of the ambition and positivity around the club," he said. “There is new players, new staff and to me it seems like a great time to be joining Shrewsbury.”
With Mark Halstead joining last week and with Callum Burton and Harry Lewis already at the club, the keeping options are looking good. Jayson is looking forward to meeting Mark as well as Danny Coyne who he knows about from the Middlesbrough connections.
"I really look forward to meeting Mark at the start of the season and then we look to see what happens then.
“Also with Danny Coyne as the goalkeeping coach I look forward to seeing him and we’ve spoken on the phone.
“I’ve heard only positive things about Danny especially from the people at Middlesbrough about his quality.
“I’m a very positive goalkeeper and I always try to give my 200 per cent on the pitch to help the players and club to do well.”
After progressing through the ranks at Basel and gaining experience on loan at other Swiss clubs, Jayson made the move to join Middlesbrough. He spent two enjoyable seasons there making league and cup appearances but is now looking forward to his new challenge:
"It is a massive club and was a great experience for me and I really enjoyed my time there," he said. “That is in the past now and my future is now at Shrewsbury Town and I’m looking forward to my time here.”
After a quick 24 hours in Shrewsbury, it's back to Manchester airport his afternoon and then back home to Switzerland. Then follows a little downtime to watch the World Cup but Jayson will be putting in the hard work to make sure he’s in top condition for the start of pre-season training on June 27:
"I’m going to train when I get back home and get ready and in shape for when the pre-season starts," he added. “It’s been a little stressful with all the travelling here and back so it will be nice to get back home for a rest.”
Basel, along with Zurich and Bern, are one of the top clubs in Switzerland and it was a great club to develop at, but as with other European players the desire to play in the English League was a big factor in the move.
"Basel is a big club in Switzerland and a good club within Europe and was a good club to grow up at. I got a lot of experience in my time there.
“I really enjoyed my time there but I prefer to play in England and that is why I’m here.
“The fans are unbelievable over here and I’ve heard only good things about the fans here.
“To see those people come and support us is the difference as is the professionalism of the clubs in England.”