David Artell has told Crewealex.net that the club will continue to only pay within their means for players. The Alex boss says he will work within the limits of his playing budget because the sustainability of the club, especially when coming through a global pandemic is vital.

Artell has already signed forward Christopher Long on a free transfer from Motherwell and he is the market for more in the next few weeks as his squad rebuild continues. But he won’t pay over the odds for players in a changing market.

He told us: “I work to a budget and the sustainability of the club is the most important thing. We won’t ever jeopardise that. We always live within our means and that won’t change with me in charge and the board we have. It hasn’t changed because the board has.

“I know that agents won’t even suggest Crewe to their players because we don’t pay agents fees. That is the way it is and that’s far enough.

“We have to possibly work harder because of that but that’s the job. We want players here, because they want to be here for the right reasons. We want them here to develop as players and help the team.

“We have logs in the fires. We have managed to get Chris (Long) in and we are making progress on others. “