Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Matthew Cox has made an excellent impact since joining on loan from Brentford in the January transfer window.
He has helped steer Salop away from the League Two relegation zone, helping record five successive victories to make them the form side in the fourth tier.
Bigger Fish Lurking
According to Pete O’Rourke, his start to live in Shropshire has alerted several Premier League outfits to his services, alongside some European giants. After a lack of senior football over the past couple of seasons, that may seem surprising. But the England youth international looks set to be in high demand when he returns to West London following the conclusion of the 25/26 season.
Any transfer, though, would likely require a substantial fee. In 2022, Cox signed a bumper six-year deal with the Bees, with Brentford also holding a club option for an extra 12 months. That followed his success with England’s U19 side, winning the UEFA European Championships, where the 22-year-old was named in the team of the tournament.
EFL Experience
The London-born goalkeeper spent his youth career bouncing around clubs in the capital. After time at Chelsea and AFC Wimbledon, he eventually settled at the Gtech Community Stadium, linking up with Brentford’s ‘B’ side. Cox was quickly promoted to the first team to cover for an injury to current Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, continuing that role the following year, even when the Spaniard returned to fitness.
But sitting on the bench every week wasn’t going to aid his development, so a loan to League One Bristol Rovers was deemed the best option. That saw him gain 34 appearances, but a run of four defeats at the start of 2024 saw Cox drop out of the side, playing just once more in April. Since then, the last couple of years haven’t quite gone in his favour.
After failing to gain any further experience at Brentford, he returned to the third tier with Crawley Town for the second half of the 24/25 campaign. But injury quickly hampered his time with the Red Devils, in what was only his third match. And after just one Premier League Cup appearance for the youth side this term, another temporary spell was decided upon.
Shrewd Shrews
But Cox has been back to his best in his relatively short stint in Shropshire. Named on the bench for his first two matches after joining in the middle of January, he started for his new club against Cambridge United, in Michael Appleton’s final game in charge. Under Gavin Cowan, he kept his first clean sheet at Barnet and has added a further two shut-outs during their sensational five-game winning streak.
Impressively, three of those victories have come against the top four sides in League Two. He was in good company last night as they beat Salford City, with Joe Hart joining the coaching staff as a one-off. Salop should be confident of recording another three points on Saturday, when out-of-form Walsall are the visitors to Croud Meadow. The Saddlers were also flying high at the end of 2025, but have dropped from the spot to outside the play-off places.
