Gradi has admitted Crewe don't have the money to make plenty of permanent signings so taking young players on loan from other clubs will benefit both parties; Crewe get access to decent players while clubs like Liverpool will see their reserve players get first team action which will speed up their development.
"We don't think we can produce our own players on demand. So when the likes of Dean Ashton goes, we can't suddenly pluck the next Ashton out of the youth team," Gradi explained.
"We need to establish some lines of communication with clubs, because many actually approach us to take their players. But we don't want just anyone ringing us up, because we won't necessarily know who the player is."