Crawley Town have had a bid rejected in their search to replace former loanee Laurence Maguire, who’s since moved on to League Two side MK Dons.
It’s been quite the summer for the League One side, losing several key players including Danilo Orsi, Liam Kelly and Corey Addai following their promotion in May.
However, it now appears as though Scott Lindsey’s side have identified their defensive target in the form of Dunfermline’s Ewan Otoo, but their push to sign him has been hit with a setback.
How did Otoo fare last season?
The 21-year-old began his career with Scottish giants Celtic as well as having a loan spell with Clyde and Dunfermline before signing for the latter on a permanent deal last summer.
During his debut campaign for the Scottish Championship side, Otoo made 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice and providing an additional assist.
Throughout the campaign, Otoo featured mainly as a centre-back but also featured a handful of times in midfield, which also saw him score during a match against Arbroath.
Bid details
According to journalist Scott Burns via the Daily Record, Crawley Town have had an undisclosed six-figure bid rejected for the Scottish Championship star, with the offer falling well behind the club’s current valuation.
Dunfermline have already lost defender Josh Edwards to Charlton Athletic and reportedly doesn’t want to lose another one of their stars.
However, there has been no mention as to whether Crawley Town will submit an additional offer for the 21-year-old defender or whether they will simply move on to other targets.
Is the setback a sign of things to come?
Crawley Town have lost over half of their play-off final starting eleven this summer and now have seen bids rejected for both Ewan Otoo and midfielder Kyle Scott this week.
With the club having returned to pre-season, the League One side have work to do to get their squad ready for the upcoming campaign and seeing bids rejected for their targets isn’t likely to be ideal for the football club.