Elliott Hewitt
Town have got ‘absolute steal’ in Elliott Hewitt says ex-Macclesfield boss Gary Simpson
By Dave Gooderham
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
11:21 PM
The man who gave Elliott Hewitt his league debut at the tender age of 16-years-old has told Town fans they have signed an “absolute steal”.
The right-back yesterday celebrated his 18th birthday by becoming Paul Jewell’s first summer signing after agreeing a three-year deal to sign from Macclesfield Town.
It appears Ipswich have stolen a march on rivals after Hewitt was watched by more than a dozen scouts at the start of last season before a hip injury saw him ruled out at the end of the season and interest curtailed.
But Gary Simpson, the teenager’s first boss at Macclesfield, has no doubt that Hewitt can make the step up from League Two football.
And in a message that will put the smiles back on the faces of Town fans, he added: “I don’t think Elliott will have any problem going up to the Championship and if he continues to improve like he has done, he will play in the Premier League – without a shadow of a doubt.
“When I was at Macclesfield, we had quite a bit of interest in him. “There was a number of Premier League clubs sniffing around and some games we had about 12-15 scouts just watching him – I joked we would have to start calling it ‘the Elliott Hewitt stand’.
“If it was not for his hip injury, he may well have gone straight to the Premier League. At one stage this season, we were talking about getting £1 million for him so Ipswich Town have got themselves an absolute steal.”
The teenager, who signed for a initial fee thought to be in the region of £150,000, yesterday declared he was ready to hit the ground running at Ipswich and challenge last season’s players’ player of the year Carlos Edwards at right-back.
Simpson added: “He has got all the attributes. He is a terrific athlete with good ability who can play at full-back or even centre midfield, like he has done for Wales.
“He is a terrific lad, down-to-earth and grounded, and I am sure he will be an unbelievable success.”
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5 comments
I am so glad we have finally signed a right back and the fact he is a young hungry prospect who hopefully will continue to develop at our football club is even better! Hopefully we can sign a good central defender to partner Tommy Smith as well as an established goalkeeper. I also think we need a new striker and for me there is a perfectly good one down at Crewe called AJ Leitch-Smith who seems to have gone under the radar of most clubs but, having seen alot of him recently he certainly fits the criteria of player this club needs.
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Stat-Matt
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Welcome to Ipswich!!! Give it your best shot, just hope PJ will sign more players like you!! Very good signing for what it sounds like a good player! Now we need a goalkeeper, centre defender, midfielder and a goal scoring striker!
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Lloydze
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Presumably his medical covered the possibility of this hip injury being a recurring problem? Let's hope he's not another Dyer. Anyway young man welcome to Ipswich and look forward to seeing you playing next season. Imagine Edwards will move to right midfield? Should make a good combination.
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JOHN BURLS
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Yes if he shows the same commitment as Cresswell we will be well served for years to come.... just need a goalkeeper or two and Ryan Nelsen and another right sided centre back and we arte just about there........ assuming we get Baldock on loan and everyone else hits the ground running.....
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Lindsay Ferguson
Thursday, May 31, 2012
WELCOME,to Ipswich hopeing players like you can turn round our dismal run. At the end of last season.. give 100% and the supporters will love you..
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david bradley
Thursday, May 31, 2012