Crewe Alexandra boss Steve Davis has urged Max Clayton to pledge his future to the club after he stalled on the offer of a contract extension.
The 18-year-old forward’s present deal runs until the end of the 2013-14 season but Davis is keen to extend that contract and protect one of the club’s young assets.
Under the current transfer system Alex would still receive compensation if Clayton or any player under the age of 24 decided to move to pastures new when their deal expired.
However, this figure would in all probability be much lower than the club’s own valuation of the player.
“We sat down with Max and his dad (former Crewe striker Paul Clayton) and had discussions about his future,” said Davis.
“While there are 18 months left on his contract we don’t want that to run out. We are mindful of keeping him here as long as we think he needs to be here.”
“We don’t want to push him out when he’s not ready to go. We want him to be a regular in the team, scoring goals and a real asset for someone else, not going to play for someone’s under-21 side, if and when it happens.”
“We will sit down again between now and the end of the season.”
