David Artell has told the club’s official website that signing players on loan has to be an option.

The Crewe Alexandra boss says he would be foolish not to be open to the idea of signing a player that could make a difference to us on a six-month or 12-month agreement.

The Crewe boss has certainly used the loan market well since taking over from Steve Davis in January 2016, but he admits that it doesn’t always work out, as in the case of midfielder Daniel Barlaser last season.

The Newcastle United youngster was limited to just four substitute appearances before returning to St. James Park early to return to Under-23s football.

David told the club’s official website: “I would like the signings to be permanent ones, so they become our own players but I would be foolish not to consider loan deals as well. If someone comes to me and says you can have this player for six months or the season and I think he will improve us, why wouldn’t I be interested?

“We have done reasonably well I would say with the loan players we have been able to attract. I think most of them have been a success.

“There have been times when it hasn’t quite worked out, like Daniel (Barlaser) last season. He didn’t play as much as he would have liked but that was no real fault of his own, it was just that Callum and Charlie got ahead of him. They kicked on and deserved to be in the team.

“Dan was a good player and a good pro, but the other two lads did well. I was open and honest with him and with Newcastle and there are no hard feelings. They appreciated the honesty and our relationship with them remains strong.

The boss added: “I think the way we go about things and the integrity we have goes a long way and we reap the rewards because of that.”