It was widely reported over the weekend that Steve Bruce was present at Crewe Alexandra on Saturday afternoon to watch Peterborough star Siriki Dembélé.
He wasn’t the only player he was at the Alexandra Stadium to check out, however.
After contacting NUFC Blog over the past 24 hours, an unnamed EFL scout told us that Steve Bruce was in the stands to also take a closer look at Crewe star Ryan Wintle.
Wintle is a 23-year-old centre midfielder who played the full 90 in Crewe’s impressive 2-0 win over the table-topping Peterborough on Saturday – a game Bruce watched alongside son, Alex.
Wintle was the subject of some serious interest from SPL side Hibernian over the summer, with Sky Sports’ Keith Downie revealing last month that Crewe rejected a £200,000 bid for the midfielder.
It’s worth noting that Steve Bruce brought a 23-year-old John McGinn from Hibernian to Aston Villa when he was untested at the top and relatively unknown. Could this be his latest attempt to bring in a lower league talent under the radar?
The midfielder has 13 goals and nine assists in 152 appearances for Crewe – who are currently 13th in League One 11 games into the new season.
At 23, he’s hardly a youngster, but Steve Bruce may believe he’s capable of making the step up.
Time will tell if something comes of it…
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