Former Sheffield United hero joins 'Class of 92' in League Two

The midfielder has made the somewhat surprising move down to League Two from Fleetwood Town where he had been playing alongside another popular former Blade, Mark Duffy.

Coutts left Bramall Lane in 2019 when United won promotion to the Premier League, with the final stages of his Blades career hampered due to a horrible knee injury picked up against Burton Albion in 2017.

On making the move to Salford, Coutts told the club’s website: “[I’m] really excited, it’s a club on the up, doing well so excited to join and hopefully add to the group.

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“We had a change in manager at Fleetwood, things were a bit up in the air and I got the opportunity to come here so I jumped at the chance.

“I’ve been around for a bit, I’ve not actually played in League Two yet so that will be a new experience for me, but it’s something I’m looking forward to and hopefully I can add to the group and help them achieve what they want this season.

“The club’s ambitious and want to get promoted so it’s ticked all the boxes and just dying to be a part of it.”

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Salford are, of course, co-owned by Manchester United’s famous ‘Class of ‘92’ – Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville, along with businessman Peter Lim.

Current manager and former Doncaster Rovers player Richie Wellens, said he was delighted to bring a player of Coutts’ quality to the club.

Wellens said: “He’s a totally different player to all of our other midfielders, he’s an out and out holding midfielder who can dictate the game, his range of passing is very good, and his experience makes him exactly the type of man we wanted.

“We’ve got players in the middle in Oscar Threlkeld, Jason Lowe, Richie Towell, with really good energy, and we feel Paul can come in and give us real composure in our play, dictate the tempo of games and give us more possession.

“He’s been at a higher level with Fleetwood, Sheffield [United], and we’re hoping his experience will really push us on.”

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