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Fourth bid for Troy Deeney rejected
Friday 30th July 2010, 10:55AM BST.
Walsall have warned Watford off striker Troy Deeney after they rejected the Hornets’ fourth bid.
The Saddlers dismissed another offer – understood to be £375,000 – yesterday from the Championship outfit in a clear statement of intent.
Watford have made Deeney their top target but the Saddlers are playing hardball and boss Chris Hutchings said they don’t have to sell.
He said: “We are trying to keep our best players and we’re not a selling club any more.
“We want to progress and to do that we want to keep our best players.
“He is someone we don’t want to sell, but we can’t stop clubs making bids for our players.”
Chief executive Stefan Gamble also issued a firm message to the Hornets and believes the Saddlers can keep the striker, the club’s player of the season last term.
He said: “We are not actively trying to sell Troy. We can’t stop any offers being made but he is a very important player.
“I don’t see why we can’t keep him because we’re not trying to sell him.”
But Gamble admits the club don’t know if Watford will return a fifth time after waiting over a week to make their fourth bid.
He said: “They’ve given no indication if they will make another offer.”
Reports suggest the 22-year-old is unhappy with the Saddlers’ hardline stance and is keen to move but Hutchings refused to comment on Deeney’s state of mind.
The Walsall boss said: “As far as I’m concerned he’s a young man who wants to better himself, but whether he is happy here I don’t know.”
The Saddlers travel to Port Vale for their final pre-season game tomorrow (3pm) before the League One season starts next Saturday with the visit of Milton Keynes Dons.
Walsall are also set to sign Manchester City defender Ryan McGivern on a season-long loan.
The Saddlers have sealed a deal for the Northern Ireland international after beating off competition from Crystal Palace and Oldham.
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I bet he hands in a written transfer request… walsall will say that they don’t want to keep a player who does not want to be at the club, an undisclosed fee will be agreed at around £250,000 and Troy will be gone by the first game of the season!
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which Walsall fans didn’t see this story coming?
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If the reported figure of £375k is correct, I’d seriously consider accepting it.
Whilst he was player of the season last year and he is still young, I think £375k is more than a fair offer!
I think the question would then be what happens with that money?
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Look, it’s obvious that he will go, and if we get £400k or over for him then it will be a decent price – he’s a promising player but that’s all at the moment. The big issue is how much of the money would be made available for team strengthening – we will definitely need to replace Deeney and should also bring in some central midfield cover. We have to accept that Walsall will always be a “find ‘em, blood ‘em, sell ‘em on” club, but as long as we continue to find good young players then we can still do well. Keep the faith!
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Hold on, I thought the all-knowing express and star reported the fee as being £100k the other day? 100k to 375k? Thats a bit of a jump!
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does it really matter how much we get for him the team wont benefit from it.
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Do u really really think Walsall are goin to miss out on 400k never in this world..
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Looks like the new regime (Gamble and Pomlett) are going to have their resolve tested earlier than they would have liked!
Sell and it’s same old…….
Hold onto Deeney and advance the club (as promised) and maybe we are going to see things change.
I am ever the optimist…..next few days will be interesting!
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Just hang on here you lot , our manager just said we’re not a selling club any more , that mean’s Troy wont be going anywhere !…..Yeah right lol
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At the end of the day TD is a good lad but is he a player who can make it in the higher divisions? I think that any offer around £375K is a good one for an unproven player. Having said that , the board appear to be doing something that we as Walsall supporters don’t understand, they’re trying to keep a good prospect.I’m beginning to wander if the moon is indeed made of green cheese.
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OH common! If they had bid £375k whalley would be driving him to Watford before the ink was dry.
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