If Shrewsbury Town midfielder Jon Nolan wants to step up from League One, signing for Sunderland rather than Leeds United wouldn’t make much sense.
Shrewsbury Town will be doing everything they possibly can to hang onto Jon Nolan in the summer.
The Shrews have arguably been the biggest surprise package in all of the Football League this season, starting 2017/18 as relegation favourites and potentially ending it with promotion to the Championship.
As it stands, Paul Hurst’s high-flyers are top of the third tier – and former Everton youngster Nolan has been a major part of their unexpected success with eight goals and six assists from central midfield. No wonder the 25-year-old has admirers higher up the footballing pyramid.
The Mirror (19th March, page 47) states that Leeds United are interested, while the Shropshire Star has now claimed that Sunderland are also keen with manager Chris Coleman scouting the midfielder in person during Shrewsbury’s home win against Wimbledon on Saturday.
But if it comes down to a straight fight between Sunderland and Leeds, Nolan would surely be mad to choose the Stadium of Light.
Leeds have indeed plummeted down the Championship since the turn of the year, the one-time play-off hopefuls now fighting for a place in the top half under Paul Heckingbottom.
But Leeds are guaranteed to be in the second tier next season which is more than can be said for a Sunderland side bottom of the table and seemingly destined for successive relegations.
There is even a chance that Shrewsbury and Sunderland could swap places, so it would make little sense for Nolan to stay in the third tier when Leeds are giving him the chance to make a step up.
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