Albion look set to face a transfer auction for midfield target Paddy McCourt after the Northern Irishman’s manager admitted he is certain to move to England.
Irish club Derry City have rejected the Baggies’ initial offer for the 24-year-old winger, but manager Stephen Kenny says the player’s departure for England this summer is ‘inevitable’.
And Derry chairman Pat McDaid says he expects up to a dozen more suitors to show their hand this week with Premier League clubs in England and Scotland chasing the former Rochdale man.
Albion’s opening offer, reported in Ireland to be around £50,000 with not all of the fee paid up front, was dismissed as ‘derisory’ by McDaid.
“We feel the offer made is a bit of a slur on the League itself,” said McDaid, “And we certainly wouldn’t accept it. We’d be much better off keeping Paddy, even if it was until the end of the season and letting him leave for free, than taking the money now.”
But Derry look certain to cash in on the midfield man to avoid the potential financial blow of losing him on a free transfer when his contract expires in a year.
McDaid said: “If a serious offer comes in from a club, we’ll give it consideration but we haven’t had a serious offer at this stage.”
And manager Kenny is already planning without McCourt, who was targeted initially by Albion in January and has remained on boss Tony Mowbray’s radar ever since.
“I think Derry City are very fair to deal with,” said Kenny, “but we do not want to halt Paddy’s progress. If he wants to go to the Premiership we can’t hold him back. I’d love to keep him here, and the club have offered him the best deal they’ve ever offered a player, but he has his mind made up and if he wants to go over, it’s inevitable.”
The 6ft tall wideman was capped by Northern Ireland against Spain six years ago but has yet to make his second appearance.
Loading ...
25 Comments
With Brunt and Tex and Morrison and Kim we seem to be well covered in wide positions (not sure if Dorrens is also a wide player) so i would see McCourt as a squad player only - but he seems to be well rated.
Nice try with the £50k offer - we may have to go a little higher if we want him, but we shouldn’t pay silly money (500k tops).
Does anyone know if he’s related to Frank McCourt who’s life story was made into Angela’s ashes ??
Another name for you to consider - Guillaume Beuzelin …. midfield playmaker at Hibs and brought by TM when he was there.
There is a suggestion he may be moving south of the border…..
and again according to the teamtalk website reports of interest in Ben Foster on season long loan.
I’d love to see us go for the young Steve Fletcher that was linked with Real Madrid earlier this season - I think it’s Hibs he’s at too.
Much better than his namesake that plied his trade at Bournemouth!
5 million should swing it I reckon
i was talking to a derry city season ticket holder he said hes a really good player,boing boing in tony we trust
2,happy, i aint havin him on me shirt cost a fortune,boing boing up the MOWBURY WAY
Terry - Give us a G. Give us a U…. oh sod it !
Wellthats strange terry because i was talking to THE OTHER Derry City sth and he said i tink il bee ooot of es depth, weel i think thats what he said!!
I see Bomber can get away with doing a comedy irish accent, but my comment about offering £100k and a “daaaag” didn’t get past the moderators…..
Its not what you you know is it jarrod…..
nice to see you are splashing the cash!careful though 50k a lot of money
10 (Jack).. I could not agree more 50k is an awful amount of money for 1 player. I mean some people can buy a whole club for a Tenner
I’ve heard its a 3 way battle to sign him between Albion, Rochdale and Blyth Spartans. Personally think its between Albion and Rochdale.
My old boy says Paddy was the most talented footballer he has ever seen play at Rochdale…he also said he was the laziest!
By all accounts he has upped his workrate with Derry and got his head sorted. On the ball he is without one of the most gifted footballers around.
It was a sad day when Steve Parkin released him, but Paddy’s head wasn’t in it at the time. I’ll look forward to seeing him in the Premier League.
u got the other 30mill to go with the tenner then!i would be suprised if put in the same situation you would say no!
Jack…….it`s the same old story mate,
you and some of your wulfie chums come on our boards and attempt to ridicule anything Albion,
signings/targets in particular.
When it`s volleyed back in your direction about
the tenner to buy the club, you always go on the defensive and regurgitate the mystery £30m
Remind me how much of this investment has been spent thus far.
have you took a look at all things wolves been ridiculed by albion fans!works both ways.
On your point we are a championship club it would be a bit silly to blow 30m in one go now wouldnt it.
Jack……lets get one thing straight,
i would rather engage ANYONE in genuine football
debate, rather than simply trade insults.
However i would like to point out that you have
had your dig on an Albion related page,so by doing
that you are inviting Baggie fans to respond in kind….wouldn`t you agree ?
So on to real debate………£30m, yes it would not be prudent to spend it in one go,
but conversely i am a little confused at how little of that money has been spent up to now,
first of all, i thought it to be that Morgan
didn`t trust MM with the funds, but now he has publicly stated that the manager will be there next season, that kind of confounds my first thought.
16,jack,but it wud be nice just to spend a little bit of it wudent it,i think he spent some on it on a season ticket for liverpool,boing boing in the prem with LOADS A MONEY
you can just imagine it now!!!!!! wolves of stafford’s new song next season……………… 7 SUBway a..y. extra mayo. Can subone tell e’m its SUBstitutes?????????? i’m off 2 the go go.
Big signings again boys..
You Dregs are a joke…
the days of cheap pickings north or south ireland are over
19,terrytalksence,whats the name of that bloke your after from hereford.boing boing up the MOWBURY WAY
20.Terry talks tripe…….well yes!
Big signgings again, well £3m for Brunt, £3m for Barnett, £3m for Curtis Davies and sold for £10m and on the other end of the scale £600k for Teixeira, £600k on Kevin Philips and Robert Koren on a free? Doesnt this prove that we can not only spend but also be prudent with our cash?
Anyway wait until our Russian Billionaire comes in with his £28billion then you’ll be sorry. Oleg Deripaska there’s only one Oleg Deripaska……
16 - Oh you’re throwing that one into the equation now are you? I think you lot change the goalposts to suit yourselves. ‘We are a championship club and should not blow the money’. Pity Jack Haywood didn’t heed your words, he might have had some left when you finally spent your season in the prem.
It’s early days in the transfer market. I’m sure we’ll try to sign a few bargains and fork out a bit more on others. You never know when bargain hunting in the lower leagues as Wolves well know.