Top scorer Scott Rendell has reluctantly quit Crawley.

The 20-year-old today completed a transfer to Reds' Conference rivals Cambridge United.

He wanted to stay at Broadfield Stadium but was not willing to wait any longer to be offered a new deal.

Most of last season's squad are free agents and only defenders Ben Judge and Dave Woozley have agreed new terms.

Owners Chas and Azwar Majeed do not want to secure any more players until a new manager is appointed.

Rendell, who scored 11 league goals after joining last summer from Reading, said: "I didn't know what was happening at Crawley and I couldn't afford to wait around forever.

"The longer you wait the harder it is to find a club so I decided to go. I could have joined Cambridge last January because they came in for me but I decided to turn them down and stay loyal to Crawley because I was happy there.

"But I could not let things keep dragging on, I needed to know where I was playing next season. It is a shame because I enjoyed my time but hopefully this move will be good for me."

Reds suffered a number of financial problems last season and Rendell is looking forward to playing for a club with more off-field stability.

He said: "We did brilliantly considering all the other things that were going on. There was a lot of pressure on us both on and off the pitch and it was hard.

"It has made me a better player and it will be good to be able to just focus on playing and not on other things."

Defender Magnus Okuonghae could be the next player to leave as he is believed to be talking to Conference champions Dagenham and Redbridge.