Crewe Alexandra have announced that defender James Connolly has signed for the club from Bristol Rovers on a 2-year deal for an undisclosed fee, becoming the eighth signing of the summer after the arrivals of goalkeeper Filip Marschall, defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, midfielders Jack Lankester and Max Sanders as well as forwards Fin Roberts, Kane Hemmings and Omar Bogle.
Connolly, 22, came through the youth system of both Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City before joining Bristol Rovers, initially on loan in January 2022 before joining the club permanently that summer. He would also also spend the first half of last season on loan at Morecambe and joins the Alex having made almost 100 career appearances.
James also represented Wales at Under-21 level against Gibraltar in May 2022.
What should we make of the signing?
He comes into the squad as a player to compete with Knight-Lebel as Mickey Demetriou’s centre-half partner in the short-term assuming that the club continue to play the 4-2-3-1 that we have seen during pre-season. X user @Wardrobe55 had this to say about Connolly:
Committed centre back. Unlucky not to get a better crack with us in L1 over the last 2 seasons but extremely capable at L2. On paper Beefy is a great signing for you.
Was extremely well liked and will give value to your defence
Great singing for Crewe, a lot of Gasheads wished he had stayed Good luck Beefy