Boss pleased after finally landing prolific young striker

Steve Davis is delighted that he finally got his man after signing Watford striker Uche Ikpeazu on loan until the end of the season. Crewe Alexandra swooped to sign the former Reading trainee after missing out on Tom Hitchcock last week, but Davis has revealed that Ikpeazu was the number one target before we originally went for Hitchcock back in November.

Ikpeazu scored a superb 28 goals in 28 games for Reading’s Under-18s to finish as the leading scorer in the Premier Youth League. The 18-year-old signed yesterday and just hours later opened the scoring for Crewe’s Under-21s at Huddersfield.

The Crewe Alexandra manger told crewealex.net: “Uche’s record at youth level is exceptional. He was top scorer in the Premier Youth League last season which is no mean feat. We actually wanted to take him before Tom (Hitchcock) but Watford wouldn't let him out because he was very close to their team. They told us to come back in January and now they have allowed him to come.

“I'm delighted to have signed him. If any of our academy players had his record they'd have been in our first team. He is 6ft 3, powerful, quick, he'll need to get more match-fit but there is a real handful of a player and got off to a good start with a goal for the under 21s. We didn’t mess about because we definitely wanted him.”