The Crewe Alex 2026 Retained List & Summer Shopping List

The Alex love to release their list later than most don't they? I don't know why this is. The players were told the day after the season finished, but they didn't release the actual news until 9 days after the event. I know it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but I'd be curious to know why there was such a lengthy delay. Anyway, we got the list and there were a fair few surprises in there. Most weren't, but a few definitely were. It's bound to create a lot of talking points in the coming weeks. But for now, let's get into the list and discuss what it throws up, what holes it'll likely leave and what the Alex will need in terms of a shopping list for players:

Offered fresh terms

Lewis Billington

I think I'm right in saying Billington only had a 1 year option on his deal, so him being presented with fresh terms suggests a longer deal is surely on the table. As I said when I discussed the retained list a few weeks ago, a 2 year deal would be what I would have on offer for him, given his new found experience and value to the squad, plus his status as a leader in the dressing room. I'd be surprised if he didn't sign it.

James Connolly

The first one I really disagree with. What is he good at exactly? He's weak in a number of areas, hasn't really improved since he joined despite picking up a fair bit of experience. He's going have to cover a lot for when Demetriou is unable to play and we saw how that went. I don't like it and I don't agree with it.

Stan Dancey

Back to the ones I agree with and Dancey I'm glad to see is getting offered fresh terms. I'm not sure if he had an option in his previous deal, but I think he did just enough, especially with his start against Cambridge, to suggest he might be able to make it as a first team player. I'm hoping he can maybe even challenge Billo for the RB spot and if he can win it, that might allow Billo to move inside to CB and that in turn will see Connolly drop to the bench. Either way, I'm happy to see Dancey stay as it allows me to continue with my fantasy team name Stan Dancing Queen.

Luca Moore

Can't disagree with this either. He had a strong season in the U21s, scoring double figures, which is good for a player that isn't a winger/striker. He also flashed in the league and the Vertu Trophy, so I'm hoping he gets more opportunities to shine next season, as he won't have U21s football to keep him ticking over. Could a loan be on the cards or are they planning on keeping him around as their go to option off the bench?

Fin Roberts

This one really surprises me and I don't really get it. He looked well short of the required quality last summer and whilst I haven't contacted Chester fans, wasn't his loan there rather poor? He scored a couple of goals, but he failed to crack their team on a regular basis. So, what is the plan for him? Are they really that blown away by his potential? I guess so. We'll get another look at how he's progressed this summer, but this is a confusing one.

Max Sanders

I'd imagine his departure is still a forgone conclusion and this is simply lip service to show they tried to retain him. I don't think his market is quite as strong as it was at Christmas, so maybe a return isn't impossible, but I still think he'll be on his way.

Conor Thomas

The Alex fell short last season and a large part of that was down to their midfield. And whilst I'm not blaming any 1 individual for those struggles, they have made moves to bring back 3 of their 4 first team midfielders in Lunt, Sanders and now Thomas. I do not understand that. This one really frustrates me though.

Again, I get they think he's a good solid pro in the dressing room and he clearly tries to do all the right things. But the fact is, he can't start enough games, he can't complete a 90 minutes and misses as many games as he is available for. If this is a 1 year pay as you play deal and they intend to stick him on the bench, fine. But if this is in any way a deal with the intention of putting him in the first team every time he's fit, then it's only going to lead to the same struggles we've seen over the last 3 seasons. I don't get it and I vehemently disagree with it.

Option triggered

Calum Agius

Whilst he had an up and down 2nd year as a pro, he still contributed with 6 league goals, so we can't grumble too much. His option was for a further 2 years I believe, so that should keep him tied down until the end of the 27-28 season. A decent bit of business, hopefully he can kick on next season and reach double figures for goals, which would be the first time a homegrown player has hit that milestone since Owen Dale in 20-21.

Owen Lunt

I'm not sure why Lunt isn't being offered fresh terms, as I think this option is only for another year. I think he did enough to warrant a longer deal, but him sticking around next season is fine with me. He had a solid breakout year in 25-26 and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in 26-27.

Joel Tabiner

He has worked hard to recover from his ACL injury. Now the real challenge begins, which is him working his way back to match fitness after a year out and then hopefully kicking on to become a genuine consistent goal threat. O'Reilly showed him how it can be done, so he has that performance to emulate. It's no surprise he's sticking around, but he has a lot to do to resurrect his EFL career.

Discussions Ongoing

Adrien Thibaut

A curious one. In the no mans land between offered new terms/option triggered and released, which is rather odd. Does that point to him staying? Going? Hard to say. I'd be happy to see him stick around, but if he were to depart, I wouldn't lose sleep over it, as he's only really proven himself to be a useful 3rd choice striker at this stage.

Released

Olly Armstrong

This doesn't surprise me. Yes, he'd flashed in the Vertu Trophy, but with the lack of U21s football and the cost cutting going on at the club, I suspected some ruthless decisions were going to be made. This is definitely one of them. A few years ago, he might have been kept around a while longer, but now he's out the door. It's a shame, but I fully expect him to get picked up by a local non-league club and for him to have a successful career lower down the pyramid as say Chester, Altrincham or Macclesfield. Best of luck to him.

Omar Bogle

Pretty nailed on. It's horrible to think he never had a chance to truly shine at the Alex as he went from injury to injury to painkiller addiction to injury. We'll always remember the Walsall goal from 24-25 and his comeback goal against Shrewsbury, but this is the correct decision. Best of luck to him in his next venture.

Charlie Finney

It was definitely time. If there was maybe a small case for him staying last summer, there wasn't one 12 months later. He tried his best to make himself useful, but his quality just wasn't there. This I suspect is the last we'll hear of him in the EFL. I'm curious how far down the pyramid he'll land. I suspect rather far down.

Jordan Hodkin

It's a surprise on the surface, but then when you go into it in detail, it's probably less so. He had 3 separate loan spells in 25-26, none of which were very successful. And like Armstrong, with no U21s football, they were faced with the possibility that he would have no takers on loan next season, leaving him sat on the sidelines with nowhere to go and no games to play. This could come back to bite them, but we feared that with Saunders, Reilly and Evans. The reality is, I suspect Hodkin will join that list of promising youth strikers that just never kicked on once they turned pro.

Louis Moult

It wasn't meant to be. Maybe a year or 2 prior and he'd have been a good signing. He just never got going and it was clear his legs were gone very early on. I suspect his playing career is coming to an end fairly soon.

Jack Powell

The ACL injury ruined any chance we had to see him at close to his peak for longer. I will maintain though that he simply isn't a Bell player, given Bell teams don't dominate the ball and that is Powell's style. I wonder if he'll head back to Crawley? I do suspect he'll end up down south again. Best of luck to him, a top pro who was robbed of his best football thanks to a really unfortunate injury.

Shilow Tracey

I'm sorry, but good. Yes, I get he's got a nice song and he became incredibly popular after his recovery from his leg break, but let's also take off the blinkers and admit he's a bang average player and that was before the injury. 7 goal contributions in 23-24 is very underwhelming in a top 7 team and he had just 6 goals whilst playing almost exclusively as a striker in 24-25 before his injury. Those aren't the sorts of numbers I'm going to lose sleep over seeing leave. Maybe he comes back and makes the Alex rue the decision to let him go, but people said the same about Aaron Rowe and look how that one turned out.

I'm glad he's recovered from his injury, but for me, this is the right choice once you remove sentiment from the equation.

Zac Williams

I'm surprised, but pleased. The Alex of the past might well have tried to retain his rights to try and recoup a fee, but perhaps the relationship had become that broken that they simply didn't want the headache of trying to make him sign a new deal and either re-integrate him into the squad or find him a loan deal.

It's a shame how far his stock has fallen and the obvious talent he possesses, but until he sorts out his attitude and mentality, he won't be successful. If he does go on great things, I don't think the club should feel any regrets about it. It's right the call.

Scholars offered professional contracts

Well, I was dead wrong on this. I did say I suspected it would be slim pickings and I got the number of scholars being offered deals right, which was 1. I just got the wrong one. I thought Iago Scott-Abel would get a deal, but no.

Patrick Mlynarski

The diminutive winger has the dubious honour of being the only player(aside from Owen Taylor, who signed a deal 18 months ago) to complete his scholarship and get a deal from the 2026 graduating class. Hopefully that means he has something about him. I haven't seen him play much, so I'm excited to see what he can show in pre-season.

Loan expired

Emre Tezgel, Tommi O'Reilly, Alfie Pond

I felt last season, they lost a lot of experience and minutes, but this season only 2 players are departing who were big contributors in 25-26. That being said, they were very big contributors in Tezgel and O'Reilly, so their departures will leave big holes to fill. With Pond, there has been talk of a return, but no thanks. With them keeping Connolly and maybe moving Billo to CB, another young loanee is not the right move at the CB spot for me.

General Retained List Thoughts

So, what to make of this? Mixed is the best way to describe it. They've chose to retain 3 players I really disagree with in Thomas, Connolly and Roberts. The latter is less concerning as he won't be on much, but I find it strange that they are trying to find ways to improve yet are trying to bring back 2 players who I think were part of their issues last season. Connolly struggled without Demetriou, which will be an even bigger issue next season and Thomas just struggled to stay fit. Again. I hope Bell doesn't start moaning in the press about a small squad and about injuries should Thomas be laid up on the treatment table for 25 games next season.

The 2nd takeaway is about the number of homegrown players in the squad. Assuming all those lads who were offered new deals sign them, they will have just 10 academy graduates in the squad. 10. If that didn't hit home just how much the clubs is changing before our eyes, I don't know what does.

Finally, whilst I'm unsure what will happen with Thibaut, if all the players who've been offered fresh terms sign their deals, the Alex will have a squad of 21 players before a single signing is made. That means a few things. One, it means they won't have a lot of space for new signings, unless they intend to once again roll with a squad of almost 30 players. Second, it means a lot of the contributions are going to have to come from players who are already in the building.

Summer Transfer Window Shopping List

So, let's have a look at what this does to their shopping list. I've already discussed some possible names. I might look at some others as more retained lists are announced, but for now we'll stick purely to what I think the Alex need in terms of positions.

LB

Starting off at the back, they need a depth option at LB. With Finney and Williams gone, they have no back up to Hutchinson. They could ask 2nd year scholar Ryan Chadwick to fill in, but that is a lot to ask of a 17/18 year old. So they need a player to slot in there. But who can they sign that will be any good given they won't be a first team starter, as Hutchinson has that spot on lock down? This is probably a low key tough position to recruit for.

CB

They need a CB even if they intend to roll with Mickey, Connolly, Croker and push Billo inside. Because for the millionth time of saying it, they need an experienced option back there who can take the lead when Demetriou is out. Billington can't do it and Connolly definitely can't. We saw how they struggled when it was those 2 as the CB pairing. Getting a young loanee like Pond isn't the answer either. I will be very annoyed if they haven't signed an older head back there.

RB

This largely depends on if they are moving Billo inside permanently and how much Dancey takes a step. As it stands, I doubt they sign a player in this area, but if Dancey isn't ready for full time minutes and Billo is a CB going forward, they will need a starter in this area for sure.

CM

They need reinforcements in this area. Sanders will surely leave and they know full well Thomas won't be able to play very much. So that leaves Lunt, Moore and Taylor. Not a lot of experience, let's be honest. They need 2 options in there, maybe 3. I've suggested the likes of Jack Evans at Harrogate and Harrison Biggins at Shrewsbury, but there should hopefully be some suitable options out there for them to find.

Winger

This is a tough one. On paper, they could view Agius, Lankester, Tabiner and Holicek as wingers, plus with them retaining Roberts and signing Mlynarski, they in theory could be fully stocked. But with Rankine surely sent packing before the end of August and Tracey gone, they need a player with a turn of pace to give them a different option, as none of the above can do that.

Striker

They need 1 for sure, to act as a foil/partner for March. They need a certain level of pedigree, as they will be required to hit close to double figures. Those players aren't easy to find. Nor are they cheap. But they do need to find one.

Should Thibaut leave and with the departure of Hodkin, they might need a 3rd to give them depth, but let's see how Thibaut's situation plays out first.

Conclusion

My overall reaction to the retained list is one of mixed feelings. I think they've mostly made the right calls, but I find some of their decisions completely baffling. What I think the main take away is that they have, in both this retained list and previous decisions, limited themselves un-neccesarily. In keeping Connolly, Thomas and Roberts, plus still having Rankine around, they have limited scope to sign difference makers to improve the squad.

I think there is a lot of potential in this squad, but we know they are short in terms of top 7 quality. How they go about finding the right 4-5 players and personalities that are going to make a difference is going to be a huge challenge.