Crewe Alexandra have completed the signing of Courtney Baker-Richardson, after the forward rejected a new contract with Newport County, as announced on the club's website.
The 26-year-old becomes the Railwaymen's third summer signing, with Conor Thomas and Kelvin Mellor also arriving at Gresty Road since the end of the 2021/22 season.
Baker-Richardson has had a very up and down career already, accumulating a lot of clubs for his age, but he looked more settled than ever with the Exiles last season.
Having struggled for any first team opportunities at Barrow in the first half of 2020/21, he was loaned out to Barnet in the National League before signing for Newport County last summer.
The former Coventry City youngster scored eight goals in 25 league starts for County this season, and combined very effectively with Dom Telford at times.
With Chris Porter and Mikael Mandron leaving Crewe this summer, it was important that the club strengthened their forward line to give themselves the best chance of competing towards the top of League Two, they have gone some way to addressing those deficiencies by bringing in Baker-Richardson.
The 26-year-old has played briefly out wide in his career, and it will be interesting to see how Alex Morris utilises his skills as the Railwaymen re-acclimatise to the fourth tier.
The Verdict
There were concerns about the potential of Crewe suffering a double relegation, or at least a battle to stay in the EFL next season, given how desperate their performances and results were this term.
A transition season, possibly something to what Rochdale went through in 2021/22 could be on the cards, but with shrewd additions like Baker-Richardson and Thomas in particular, optimism will increase amongst the group and the supporter base.
Crewe arguably have one of the clearest identities in English football, they will give younger players a chance and look to implement an aesthetically pleasing style of play.
Bringing in some players in the peak years of their respective careers, should only aid the process of blooding youngsters into the first team, and Baker-Richardson's addition will make them far more dangerous in the attacking third.