Shrewsbury Town

Shrewsbury Town have today completed the signing of midfielder James Wesolowski on a two year deal with another year option.

Wesolowski moves on from Oldham Athletic where he was their player of the season last term.  

The 26 year old was born in Sydney, Australia but started his football career as a youth player with Leicester City.  He progressed through the ranks at the Foxes and went on to make nearly 50 appearances for them in the Championship.

After five years with Leicester he moved to Peterborough and then onto Oldham where he’s spent the last three years making over 100 league and cup appearances.

The tough tackling midfielder has been out of the country on holiday but the discussions and negotiations have been going on via phone and emails.  The paperwork has now been completed with clearance being confirmed for the Australian.

ShrewsWeb grabbed a quick word with James as he took a break from relaxing in Bali ahead of returning to England:”It was a very tough decision to leave Oldham and I have really enjoyed my time there.

“When I went to see Micky Mellon and he spoke of his plans for the future of the club it was exciting.

“It’s a great opportunity for me and a pretty easy decision to make as I’m looking to help Shrewsbury Town get back in League 1.”

With Oldham remaining in League 1 and with Town dropping down to League 2 some might see it as a step down.  James is viewing it as and opportunity to help Town push for promotion and then to push on in the league above:”Some might say that but it’s not just about now but also about the future and I know Shrewsbury have some promising plans in place for the future.

“The manager was very adamant that the aim for this season is to get the team get back into league 1 and then challenge in league 1 the season after that.

“I’ve played against Shrewsbury and the stadium is really nice and the training facilities sound good so I want to get there and help the team.”

With any move there are a number of factors that come in to the player making a decision.   During talks with Micky Mellon his enthusiasm for the task ahead rubbed off on James and was a big factor in the decision:”I think it was meeting the manager, he’s a very infectious character and the way he spoke about football is similar to my views on the game.

“He talks of improving me as a player and that is very important to me, but it will also help the team and the other players.

“I know it’s not going to be automatic and not going to be easy, we are going to have to go out and train hard every day and apply ourselves properly and if we do that we can achieve our goals.

“When I left the meeting I said to my family that he is so enthusiastic and when you talk to him you want to go out there and prove yourself.

“I think that is important in a manager, Lee Johnson at Oldham is similar, he’s enthusiastic about improving players and I can see the same in Micky Mellon.

“I love the way Micky talks and that was one thing that swayed my decision.

James brings his experience of playing for Leicester City, Peterborough and Oldham with him as well as the experience of being skipper at Oldham.  He believes he is still improving as a player and hopes that will continue now under Micky Mellon:”I have played in the Championship and League 1 for most of my career so this might be viewed as a step back but one that will allow me to step forward.

“I want to make sure that this year we get promoted and that is going to be my main focus for the season and I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.

“There have been some great signings for Shrewsbury and with the management in place the club is more than capable of getting promoted.”

“I think I improved last season, I worked on the bits of my game which weren’t good and in the end I played most games last season and won player of the season.

“I need to make sure I continue to work to those levels, keep improving myself and hopefully I can have another good season and help Shrewsbury.”