Bristol Rovers beat Derby and Sheffield Wednesday to land the teenage defender from Chippenham Town

Bristol Rovers have won the race for Chippenham Town centre-back Dan Ellison, Bristol Live understands, after the 19-year-old trained with Gas towards the end of last season.

As reported by Football Insider, the defender also had trials at Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading, but Rovers struck a deal to land Ellison after a breakthrough season for Chippenham in the National League South.

The teenage defender made 30 league appearances for the Bluebirds, 27 of them as a starter, and scored four goals as Town finished 12th in the sixth tier.

Having turned just 19 in March, the centre-back was also called up to the England C squad last month and featured in a 2-0 friendly win over Nepal.

Rovers are believed to have been chasing Ellison for some time, inviting him to train with the first-team squad at the end of last season, beating Championship and League One clubs to his signature. An undisclosed fee will be paid to Chippenham Town, with the centre-back still having 12 months left on his current deal.

Although the teenager steps up three divisions, his arrival is the kind of signing the Gas hierarchy are keen to make more of, with an emphasis on recruiting high-potential talent and developing them before making a sizeable profit.

With no development or under-23 squad yet, Ellison is believed to slot straight into Matt Taylor’s first-team plans for the 2024/25 League One season. Rovers are expected to return to The Quarters for the start of pre-season on July 1.

At the time of writing, the Gas are yet to announce a signing but are understood to be close to completing deals for former Bristol City centre-back Taylor Moore and Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Cameron Dawson. The first signing of the summer will also be the first completed by the new-look recruitment team installed in February, which saw George Friend become director of football and Chris Spendlove head of recruitment.

Along with Moore, if a deal goes through, Ellison would join Connor Taylor, James Connolly and James Wilson as Rovers’ current options at centre-back.