Kaikai back at Town on loan from Crystal Palace
Manager Micky Mellon has revealed his joy at the return of Crystal Palace winger Sullay Kaikai on loan until the end of the season.Kaikai initially signed a loan deal with Town last September, scoring five goals in 14 league appearances- including a brace during the memorable 4-2 comeback victory over Colchester United in October.
But the forward’s loan spell at the Greenhous Meadow ended prematurely after he was recalled by injury-stricken Palace.
Now, though, Shrewsbury have once again managed to secure the services of the 20-year-old in a deal that Mellon is thrilled with.
“We’re delighted to get it over the line and we have got a really talented player in the building. It’s something we’ve worked very hard on and had to be patient with,” he told ShrewsWeb.
“We know the impact Sullay made on the group and the difference he makes. He’s a different type of attacking player to the ones we already have so he gives us options.
“As we’ve got Shaun Whalley on the other side, we can play with two wingers when I believe that’s necessary. Sullay can also play off the front man or up front so we’ve got options.
“He’s still our top goalscorer- that’s how valuable he was to us. He’s a good kid, he has been very keen to come back.”
And Mellon is adamant that Kaikai will have no problem settling back into what are now familiar surroundings for the London-born attacker.
“He feels like one of our players because he was here for such a long time,” Mellon commented.
“It will be nice to see him back in the building- I’m sure everybody will be as pleased as I am that we’ve got a real talented player in the group.
“He’s got the qualities that we often speak about, qualities that will unhinge opposing defenders.”
Unfortunately, Kaikai is unlikely to feature in tonight’s League One clash at home to Rochdale but Mellon expects the former Crawley Town and Cambridge United loanee to be available at the weekend.
“He is now fully fit but what happens at a lot of football clubs now is that they give players one last week to see if there’s any evidence of the injury still there,” Mellon explained.
“It’s what a lot of clubs do. We do it ourselves sometimes. Palace did that to him last week so his weekend has been all about recovery. They have asked us to let Sullay recover today as well.
“It’s all to do with the amount of load that he’s had in a certain period of time- if he doesn’t get the recovery then it will come back to bite him.
“He won’t be available this evening but getting towards the weekend he’ll be available for selection again so we’ll look forward to his return.”
Mellon was also pleased that Premier League outfit Palace were happy to allow Kaikai’s return to Shropshire- another indication of Town’s growing reputation for honing young talent.
He added: “I’m pleased that Palace believe we can continue his progress and keep moving him forward as a player.
“There was quite understandably a lot of interest in him from some Championship clubs but we have a bit of a connection with him.
“So we’ll get him back here in a Shrewsbury shirt, continuing his progress and hopefully scoring goals again.”