Keith Curle explains how Northampton Town won race for Leeds United striker Ryan Edmondson
Keith Curle believes his long-standing interest in Ryan Edmondson and Northampton Town's development of young players helped them to beat several clubs to the striker's services.
The League One side were competing with others in their division, League Two and the Scottish Premiership to sign Edmondson on loan for the rest of the season, after his stint at Aberdeen came to an end.
Curle had previously tried to get the 19-year-old on loan from Leeds and impressed upon Edmondson how he would feature in the Cobblers' set-up.
"I'm very happy to get Ryan in and this is what we mean when we talk about recruitment being an ongoing progress because we showed a lot of interest in Ryan before he went to Aberdeen and I think that helped us out," said Curle.
"He's a player we spotted a while ago and have tracked for some time, He was well aware of how we saw him fitting into our plans and what we thought of him as a player and as an individual. As soon as we found out he was coming back from Aberdeen, we made contact and because of the previous interest, it was a short conversation.
"It is also pleasing that Leeds United have seen how we help to develop young players and are happy to allow Ryan to join us at this stage of his career."
Curle likes Edmondon's physical abilities, appetite for goals and willingness to run.
"Ryan has a lot of excellent attributes. He is a mobile, hard-working, aggressive centre forward.
"He has a hunger and a desire to score goals and he is capable of scoring different types of goals.
"Beyond that, he is someone who can link play well, he also has an excellent work ethic and is someone willing to go the extra mile for the team."