Shrewsbury Town sign striker Sam Cosgrove on loan from Birmingham City

The 24-year-old front man – who joined Blues from Dons for a reported £2million in January – will spend the season in Shropshire.

And Town boss Steve Cotterill is delighted to bring in a man who breached the 20-goal mark in both the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons while still north of the border.

“We’ve wanted another forward for a while now and that has been well documented,” said Cotterill. “We’ve had to be patient to get Sam over the line but we are pleased we’ve got him. He comes out of Birmingham with probably something to prove because he hasn’t quite hit the ground running there as he would have liked.

“We are looking to get him back to the form he was in at Aberdeen. He was up there playing regular football and scoring goals.”

Cosgrove’s record of 47 goals in 103 appearances for the Dons prompted Birmingham to splash the cash just eight months ago

However, he failed to score in his 12 appearances for the Championship club, just two of which were starts – prompting them to seek a loan move for him this summer.

Several of League One’s big-hitters were reportedly in for him, including the three clubs who came down from the Championship – Wycombe Wanderers, Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday.

Ipswich Town were also among those interested, but it was Cotterill and Town who persuaded him to spend the 2021/22 campaign at Montgomery Waters Meadow.

“I had a great chat with him and he’s a smart young man,” said the Shrews boss. “Let’s just hope he’s as clever when he pulls the Shrewsbury Town shirt on.

“We just want him to score as many goals as possible along with the other boys as well

“We’ve brought him into a group where everyone is together.

“We have a real togetherness this year and he will be welcomed into the dressing room by everyone. He will add healthy competition to our squad in those forward positions.”

He will provide competition for another of Town’s summer acquisitions, Ryan Bowman, as well as former Telford man Daniel Udoh – with others also able to play in attack including Shaun Whalley and teenager Tom Bloxham.