Albion boss Tony Mowbray has warned Polish club Groclin he will pull out of the race for midfielder Radoslaw Majewski unless they drop their asking price.
Mowbray is refusing to be held to ransom in negotiations over the 21-year-old and will turn his attentions elsewhere, unless the Polish club lower what they want for the highly-rated international.
The Baggies have been tracking Majewski for several months and would still like to add him to Mowbray’s squad but Groclin want more than £2m.
Mowbray does not consider Majewski as an immediate Premier League prospect and is unwilling to pay over the odds, for a player who may not help his first team straight away.
He said: “The boy is a young player who, if the deal was done, would really only be coming in as part of the ‘underbelly’ of the club.
“He would be a talented boy for tomorrow but not necessarily for today. I want to concentrate on the first team for the moment and look at what needs addressing there.
“Let’s see what these players cost, because the cost at times is higher than the valuation we have.
“We don’t want to spend big money on players that won’t have an immediate impact on the team, because we might have to spend a bit more money than we had anticipated to get another player.”
Groclin have been playing ‘hardball’ since opening negotiations with Albion last season.
Stories in Poland suggest they want as much as £2.3m for the youngster, who made Poland’s initial 32-man squad for Euro 2008, before failing to make the final cut.
That figure is way above Albion’s valuation. The Baggies see Majewski initially in the same bracket as Sherjill MacDonald, Graham Dorrans and David Worrall, who have all been signed for less than £1m.
Tadeusz Fajfer, the Polish club’s sporting director, said previously: “There have been offers from West Bromwich Albion as part of our discussions but we haven’t agreed a fee. I’m not going to reveal our price.”
18 Comments
2m is a joke for a “underbelly player”
Well in Mogga.
get him in!!
im sure they’ll give in soon enough after soon shrewd moves from JP.
God i love being a baggie!!
Mowbray has a game plan to ensure that these underbelly players are good enough to fill in when required but more importantly good enough to progress into good first team players in the future. However as he rightly points out, we need to sign first teamers who can have an effect this season, this must remain the priority.
Anyone going tonight??
What pub is everyone going to??
ToMo is building a baggies A team, B team and reserve team - plus the acadamy is going really well.
This plan of buying and developing players for the future is brilliant and will ensure continued growth and success for years.
As BoingBoing666 rightly says - God I love being a baggie.
Surely the whole idea of buying an untried player is what ‘add-ons’ are all about. Take Slusarski for example. An International I believe, who as yet hasn’t come good but may well do this season. This kid’s club are just trying it on for size and they won’t get past JP or TM. That said, I’d still like to see him arrive.
This lad was the best player on the pitch by a mile at the Custard bowl a few months ago. If we buy him for £2million then we will sell him at a profit, guaranteed. I’ll be gutted if someone else picks him up
If you’ve not already seen this lad on Youtube, have a look. As Gaz says, best player on the pitch against England U21’s. One Polish coach suggested if this lad was of bigger build, he’d go on to play for Barcelona, not difficult to see why on video evidence. Would like to see him come.
That said, we’ve got to have trust in Tony Mowbray, I’m sure he’ll do what’s best for the club!!
I thnk TM is right we need to make sure the proper first team is OK before we start on the underbelly. I have heard good reports of this guy but £2M for a fringe player seems a bit steep to me. When are we going to sign a head on a stick to bolster the back four?
I haven’t seen him myself, but I’ve asked a couple of my Polish guys at work about him and they all rate him very highly!
Good range of passing, and a good engine too.
which means we wont get him because we are cheap someone else will buy him and he will be a star would just b typical albion.
For £2.3million I would expect a player to be in the first 15 and pushing to be on at the start. Villa bought a player or two on video evidence and lived to regret it. I think he’ll arrive, but on our terms, with suitable add-ons to protect everyone. If he succeeds, more money changes hands and we’re still happy about it. Meanwhile, it’s hands together to pray Robert Koren will be fit again soon.
Just watched this kid on youtube and he looks like just the touch of class we need, looks like a good replacement for gera if you ask me. Go on Mogga get the lad before someone else does.
in tony we trust,baggies forever!!!!!!!!
Mowbray is being a bit cheeky here, and Albion are being flat out cheap. This guy, in the English market would go for around 5 million, I don’t blame his club asking for more than the paltry sum you lot have offered!
Needs to be a goal scorer to replace k.p.and a
defender to stop all the goals going in.
From the players we have left then this would be my starting 11 for the ARSENAL game.
CARSON/HOEFKENS/PELE/CLEMENT/ROBINSON/KIM/
CECH/GREENING/MORRISON/BEDNAR/MOORE.
I know PELE hasn`t really got any pace but I`d
rather choose a player who can pass the ball
instead of BARNETT who can`t.
Once we get ZUIVERLOON/KOREN/TEIXEIRA back then
ALBION fans will start to see a totally
different baggies team.
CARSON/ZUIVERLOON/CECH/CLEMENT/ROBINSON/
TEIXEIRA/GREENING/KOREN/MORRISON/BEDNAR/MOORE.
I can`t wait until TONY MOWBRAY can feild this
team,then we will show what the BLUE&WHITE are
made of.
GOT TO BE 4-3-3 CARSON/BACK 4-ROBBO/HOEFKINS/CLEMENT/BARNETT/MIDFIEL-3/KOREN/GREENING/CECH/UPFRONT MILLER LEFT/MOORE RIGHT/BEDNAR MIDDLE.WITH A TOP CLASS CENTREHALF ADDED WATCH US GO!BOING BOING