Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell has spoken out following the club's decision to reject a bid from Blackburn Rovers for their stand-in captain Harry Pickering, stating on the club's official website that the offer falls short of the club's valuation of the defender. 

Pickering has been in brilliant form for the Railwaymen this term, racking up an impressive three goals and one assist whilst also being defensively solid from his berth of left back.

Naturally these strong showings by the club's academy graduate haven't gone unnoticed amongst some of the EFL's higher placed clubs, with Rovers today having an offer turned down for the player.

Speaking to the club's website about the situation, Artell was quick to affirm their stance on Pickering's future at Gresty Road:

“I can tell you that we have had a bid for Harry from Blackburn but we have turned that down.

“We don’t sell our players, clubs buy them. We don’t go round trying to sell our players. We had an agent trying to do that with Perry recently and he was way off the mark. We don’t operate like that.

“Clubs come in for them and we know what they are worth.

“We know their value. We discuss it and we go from there.

“I’ve spoken to Harry and he knows the situation. The out-look looks very rosy for him. There is three weeks left of the window and there is a possibility he might not be here. There is also the possibility that he will be here and then we will look at it again in the summer.

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“In the meantime, he can play some good football, with his mates and try and get us playing at a higher level.

“Harry agrees with that and he is a top lad and a terrific professional. We have his best interest at heart and we have worked on that for over 10 years. That doesn’t change because we have had one bid in this four week window.”

Having risen through the ranks at his boyhood club, Pickering has gone on to become a key figure for the League One outfit in recent years and has made over 140 appearances to date, with his current contract expiring in two years time.

The Verdict 

The situation has been made clear to Blackburn it seems by Crewe - pay us what we value our player at or you can forget about signing him.

He is by far one of the outstanding players this term at third division level and at the age of 22 already appears ready to be playing at a higher level.

If Rovers are so keen on bringing the player to Ewood Park, they will have to stump up the cash, with this transfer representing an investment with the future in mind, a factor which could sway Tony Mowbray into increasing the bid.

I feel that it is only a matter of time before the young defender packs his bags and moves onto bigger things and for that reason I think Blackburn will come back with a bigger offer and nab their man this month.