Crawley Town Football Club is delighted to announce the signature of French defender Ludwig Francillette on a two-year deal with an extra year option after his release from Newcastle United.
Scouted from the depths of French football by the Magpies in 2019, Ludi spent the last two seasons at St James’s Park before being released by Steve Bruce’s side a few months ago.
In his younger playing days, Francillette spent years in the academy of Dijon FCO, who currently play in the second tier of French football. He then moved on to AS Quetigny before being scouted and captured by the Toon.
The towering centre-half was a regular for Newcastle’s youth sides, making 27 appearances for the club. From those, he featured 22 times in the Premier League 2, scoring once and captaining the side twice.
Ludwig may be recognised by Crawley supporters after featuring in friendlies against East Grinstead Town and West Ham United, where he was able to help achieve a clean sheet before scoring in front of the home fans as a trialist against the Hammers.
Manager John Yems said: “Ludwig has been around the place for a while now, he’s been training with us as well as at other clubs and scored against West Ham.
It is great that we have been able to land Ludwig and I wish him all the best here at the club and I hope he can be a big part of our squad.”
Chief Executive Erdem Konyar said: “We are delighted to have secured Ludwig on a long-term deal. We believe under the guidance of our gaffer, he has the potential to develop into an important player for the club.”
