David Artell has told the club’s official website that he expects it to be his ‘busiest summer’ of his Crewe Alexandra reign due to the volume of player contracts and new recruits he will be working towards.

The Alex boss has already got down to business after his leading scorer, Mikael Mandron, signed a new deal a month ago and talks are on-going with other players entering the last few months of their deals.

Artell told the club’s official website: “The work has already started and I am expecting a busy summer. I am sure it is going to be my busiest yet in my four and a bit years because of the pure numbers involved.

“It is always a work in progress, a continual evolution of the club and players and every club will be the same. You have to plan ahead and assess what you need and what you may need. The planning goes in place early, so we make sure we are on the right path.

“I’m sure there will be more players going out of contract, as clubs are forced to cut squad numbers and learn to adjust after the year we have had with the fans not allowed into the  stadiums. We have a couple of home games at a vastly reduced capacity.

“It is a tough market, a tougher one now with the new Brexit rules and what we can and cannot bring in from abroad, but there is a still a market to work on and we are doing that now. We will be out looking at players and seeing what is available.”