CREWE Alexandra hope to land their number one target this week.

With a move for defender Greg Leigh now unlikely and Ryan Colclough still waiting for a better offer, it has been a frustrating summer so far for Alex fans.

However boss Steve Davis hopes to lift that gloom with the first of several new arrivals over the next couple of days.

A 21-year-old midfielder released by a Premier League club and with loan experience in both the Championship and League One is expected to decide his future imminently.

Long-term loans for both a full-back and midfielder are also in the offing while Crewe have also held talks with an experienced midfielder about a switch to South Cheshire.

“I want to bring in players we will be excited about and our supporters can get excited about,” explained Davis.

“If we can get them signed up, we’ll start the season with a much better squad.

“We made enquiries and showed our intentions early.

“Even before the end of the season we contacted players and agents about their futures so we’ve done our best.

“Inevitably the majority of players keep their options open or their agents will.

“But when we come to the start of July, decisions have to be made.”

Although Colclough has returned to pre-season training that has not stopped alarm bells from ringing.

“Ryan said he’s leaving the decision with his agent,” continued Davis.

“That seems to be the common denominator now where the agent dominates the player and makes the decision on their career.

“I think that’s pretty much 80 or 90 per cent of players now.

“It’s disappointing in many respects that the players don’t stand up for themselves and have a say in what they want to do.

“The offer has been there for a while no and we can only do our side of it.

“We will continue to pay Ryan (Colclough) to keep the right to compensation.

“Any club that wants to buy him, then we’ll listen to but no-one has come in with any offers.

“With regards to Greg, we cannot afford to pay what Manchester City paid and we have to be realistic.

“We wanted him to play in our team and build his career and he would get that kind of money again depending on his performances.

“But we’ll have to look at other options now, it doesn’t look like he’ll come back and we’ll move on.”

Goalkeeper Scott Shearer will depart this week, which will allow Crewe to bring in Paul Rachubka and coach Fred Barber.

“Paul did very well for us and we know he can come into the team,” explained Davis..

“We have kept up that relationship with Fred and we know what we want to do.”