Crawley Town have today announced the signing of prospect, Louis Flower, on a permanent switch from Brighton and Hove Albion’s academy set-up. The 20-year-old will likely feature against Hearts in Town’s opening friendly.
Flower spent the latter half of last season on loan with Gateshead in the National League, but will now join up as Crawley’s latest striker as they prepare for a League Two return campaign. An unfortunate injury limited the 20-year-old’s involvement to just four games for the North East side.
Already An Academy Attacker
In a Brighton shirt, Flower has featured heavily in the academy set-up but failed to make a first-team appearance prior to this move to Crawley. Six EFL Trophy performances have given the attacker a taste of professional football within the EFL, but a 40-match spell in various cup competitions with the academy side has resulted in four assists and 11 goals.
The new League Two striker joined Chelsea all the way back as an under-13, after a very early pre-career switch from Cambridge United. Since, Flower has made his way through under-18, under-19 and academy teams with the Blues. Across 50 games, the new Crawley signing scored 13 times while assisting nine.
A Much-Needed Replacement
Crawley’s mass exodus of players this summer has left the West Sussex outfit very short in numbers. A similar situation happened ahead of last season’s League One relegation campaign, spelling early signs of worry for Town once again. Sonny Fish and Jasper Sheik have parted ways to join National League South and North sides, South Shields and Torquay United.
Those seeking a move higher or adjacent to Crawley next season are, Jeremy Kelly – who moved to Charleston in the United States – Panutche Camara, Toby Mullarkey, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, Armando Quitirna, Will Swan, Benjamin Tanimu and Rory Feely. Tyreece John-Jules has also parted ways but has failed to find a new club as of yet.
Flower will be joining a promising rejuvenation of the League Two side’s squad, with Kabongo Tshimanga joining on a free from Peterborough United as well as Harry McKirdy, Danny Cashman, Jay Williams and Reece Brown all moving to West Sussex. Harvey Davies has extended his loan from Liverpool for a further season.
Writer’s View
As a 20-year-old striker with academy experience at the top level, Flower could really get going early on in the campaign. A vacancy in the attacking ranks could push the former Chelsea man into the forefront of the lineup.
An impressive return of goal involvements with both the Seagulls and Chelsea could reward Crawley and their ambition of returning to League One. This is a great signing, which could boost the club financially if Flower is nurtured properly during his stay.
