Notts County must take firm MK Dons transfer action as Deadline Day approaches: View | OneFootball

Notts County have already lost a couple of key players this summer and with MK Dons circling, they simply cannot afford to lose another.

Highlights

Dan Crowley was the talk of Meadow Lane over the weekend, after it was reported by Football Insider on Friday afternoon that the Notts County midfielder had been the subject of a bid from League Two rivals MK Dons.

MK have recently been subject to a takeover by a Kuwaiti consortium led by Fahad Al Ghanim and have already raided Notts this summer, picking up Aaron Nemane from The Magpies less than 24 hours before the opening game of the season.

Notts boss Stuart Maynard addressed the bid on Sunday, saying: “We want to keep everyone, we want success here, we don’t want to get rid of our best players.”

And with Crowley starting the season with two typically strong performances, it’s clear that Notts simply cannot afford to lose their classy technician if they are to mount a serious challenge for promotion.

Crowley is integral to Notts

Whilst overshadowed slightly by the incredible feats of both Jodi Jones and Macaulay Langstaff, Crowley enjoyed a season which cemented his position as one of the highest quality creators in League Two.

15 goals and 10 assists from midfield ensured the former Arsenal and Birmingham man ended the season in the division’s top 10 for goal contributions. Crowley’s 15 goals came from just 50 shots, giving him a remarkable conversion rate of 30%.

Notts’ number seven also created the third-highest number of big chances in the league, behind only Jodi Jones and Gillingham’s Remeao Hutton.

However, the 27-year-old is far more important to The Magpies than just the raw numbers.

Sunday’s draw outlined once again just how important Crowley is to Notts in attacking areas, as he had the most shots and created the most chances of any player on the pitch.

With the departure of Nemane, Notts lost a great deal of pace and running in behind opposition defences and without that, they’ll have to rely on ingenuity to break teams down, something Crowley has in abundance.

With over 40 games of Championship experience, the Notts playmaker brings a level of quality that is often above League Two level, and he has even worn the captain's armband so far this season in the absence of Matty Palmer.

Crowley handles the ball incredibly frequently in this Notts team, with his 120 touches from their opening two games the highest of anyone in the attacking half of the team.

He is extremely reliable in possession, and can be deadly when Notts get set up inside the opposition’s half.

A low centre of gravity, combined with superb close control, makes Crowley very deceptive on the ball and his ability to draw men in and then turn on a sixpence makes him extremely difficult to press without leaving gaps in a defence.

And when you factor in that he is also a big goal threat, something The Magpies lack somewhat after Langstaff’s departure, Crowley has a skillset that would be extremely difficult to replace at League Two level.

The ex-England U19s man has played a deeper role for Notts so far this season, but with Palmer nearing a return to full fitness it looks like a matter of time before Crowley is given licence to push further up the pitch and get on the ball in areas where he can really hurt opposition defences.

Contract Worries

At present, Notts are faced with a trade-off regarding Crowley’s future. The 27-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the current season, leaving The Magpies in a familiarly awkward situation.

If they keep hold of Crowley for this season and fail to win promotion, they will almost certainly see one of their key men depart the club for nothing next summer. However, if Notts choose to sell, they will lose one of League Two’s best creators, with very little time to replace him.

Logic would point towards Notts opting for the former. The club have faced the exact same situation twice in recent years, first with Kyle Wootton and then with Ruben Rodrigues.

On both occasions, owners Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz were happy to take the gamble of promotion instead of money upfront and ultimately those decisions paid off with Notts securing a return to the EFL.

Given that previous track record, as well as the fact that Notts aren’t exactly short of cash after selling Macaulay Langstaff, you would imagine it would take an extremely lucrative offer from MK to tempt Notts.

For the last few years, Notts have been heavily influenced by a top quality creator between opposition lines. They lost one in Rodrigues, they simply cannot afford to lose another in Crowley.