Gaffer delighted to add Ben Godfrey on-loan
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst believes that midfielder Ben Godfrey could be his final piece of the jigsaw.
Central Midfielder Godfrey joins on loan from Norwich City until January.
“He’s another player that we’ve monitored for a long time”, Paul told ShrewsWeb.
“I tried signing him at my previous club, I tried signing him whilst I was here and he’s never been quite available because he’s been in and around their first-team.
“He played a bit last season, but the enquiries started as soon as last season finished. I’ve stayed in touch with Neil Adams at Norwich and once I got the call to say he was available I wanted to act on it.
“It was difficult because we have brought a lot of players in and it maybe took a bit of persuasion, but also a lot of backing from the Chairman who understood how much I rate Ben.”
A versatile player, Paul believes Ben has all the qualities needed to be a success at League One level.
“He’s a great addition to the squad”, said Hurst.
“I’ve brought him in primarily as a midfield player, but he can play right-back and centre-back, so he offers defensive cover.
“He’s a young hungry player who wants to come out and play and get out of any sort of comfort zone that some players can fall into, so I think he’s got the right attitude for it and I’m looking forward to seeing him play for us.
“He’s very competitive, athletic, he’s a good size and I think he’s a winner. He broke into York City’s team at a very young age, but physically it was never an issue to him.
“He likes a tackle as well, so I think he gives us something different to some of the players and similar to others that we’ve got.”
Godfrey’s signing makes it 14 new additions this summer and Hurst believes this is the strongest squad he has worked with.
“I have to say that I’m delighted with the squad that we’ve managed to put together”, said Paul.
“It gives me hope that we can have a really good season. There’s lots of options available to me, lots of competition, which is what I wanted from the start, and I certainly think it’s the best squad that I will have worked with and it’s up to me to get the best out of them.”