Neil Taylor OR Darron Gibson?
Posted on June 29th, 2011 | 51 Comments |
Apparently we haven’t given up on trying to sign Neil Taylor from Swansea City despite having our £1m bid rejected.
Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins – who has previously claimed Taylor is worth £10m – formally turned down Newcastle’s bid on Monday evening, saying:
“We recognise Neil as a young, talented Welsh player that has an important role to play at this club. We brought him here from Wrexham and have helped nurture his development.
“He adjusted very well to the Championship last season and we look forward to seeing him play a big role as we enter the Premier League. That is why we have rejected Newcastle’s bid. I spoke to Neil’s agent and he understands the situation.
“The only thing that can change is Newcastle’s thoughts on it. If they want to purchase any player from us, obviously as in any transaction they have to reach our valuation. Unless we get an offer in for any of our players that we find too hard to turn down, every contracted player will stay with our club and will be playing for us in August in the Premier League. That’s not going to change as far as I’m aware and that’s how it should be.
“I believe the time is wrong for him to move on at the moment. You’d think he’s got more chance of playing games in the Premier League for us than trying to compete for a place at Newcastle. I wouldn’t deprive any player of moving on if he felt it was the right time for the club and the player, that’s part and parcel of the game these days. He’s such a young lad though and it’s about playing games.”
Well I can guarantee we won’t be paying £10m for him! Then again, I doubt Huw Jenkins really thinks he’s worth that and probably only said it for effect.
Quite how much we will bid is a matter of conjecture but, allegedly, we haven’t given up yet and are supposedly hoping the player will put in a transfer request to help him on his way to St James’ Park. The uninformed consensus is that we might stretch to £2m for Taylor at the most.
The press seem to think that if we don’t get Taylor we’ll pursue Man Utd’s Darron Gibson instead, although quite why it’s an ‘either/or’ situation regarding a left-back and a midfielder confuses me a bit. There also appears to be a certain amount of doubt amongst fans as to whether he’s worth the alleged £5m that Man Utd are asking for him.
The 23 year-old midfielder has scored 12 goals in 155 appearances and has spend his entire career on the books of Man Utd, although he has been loaned out to Royal Antwerp and Wolves in that time.
Personally, I think cover at left-back – even if Enrique stays – is a higher priority than another midfielder just now.
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
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Naylor!