West Brom hit back at Hull in Shane Long fee row
Albion today hit out in the row over Shane Long's collapsed deadline-day transfer by accusing Hull of trying to reduce the fee after it was agreed.
Baggies sporting and technical director Richard Garlick claimed the Tigers attempted to renegotiate the price for Long on the final day of the transfer window after agreeing a deal worth around £6.5m.
Sources at the KC Stadium had claimed Albion pulled the plug on a £5m move 70 minutes before Monday's 11pm deadline after missing out on the loan signing of Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea.
But Garlick said: "Hull unexpectedly contacted us on Monday and tabled an acceptable offer for Shane. Given that every player has his price, we discussed it as a club.
"We accepted Hull's offer in principle and gave them permission to speak to Shane, but the deal depended on many other factors – including a real reluctance to sell.
"In a phone conversation with Shane's representative, I informed him that Shane was under no pressure to leave. We were definitely not trying to force him out.
"Hull then informed us they could not finance the deal they had tabled and wanted to reduce it to a level that the club would never have accepted in the first place.
"Given that Shane was not a player we were looking to sell, we ended all negotiations with Hull there and then.
"Contrary to reports, the decision to keep Shane had absolutely nothing to do with Romelu Lukaku opting to join Everton.
"Shane remains a West Bromwich Albion player and we're delighted he's still here."
Long, who remains in talks with the Baggies over a contract extension, was one of 13 'home grown' players in the 25-man squad Albion submitted to the Premier League last night for the first half of the season. Garlick said: "The club has determined that running with a 22-man squad, augmented by the development squad, is the way forward.
"However, we have registered 25 due to mitigating circumstances.
"We are carrying one extra goalkeeper as we needed cover following Ben Foster's injury."
George Thorne, Matej Vydra and Saido Berahino qualify as under-21 players, so can play in the Premier League without being named among the 25.
Albion's 25-man squad: Amalfitano, Anelka, Anichebe, Brunt, Camp, Daniels, Dawson, Dorrans, Foster, Gera, Jones, Long, Lugano, McAuley, Morrison, Mulumbu, Myhill, Olsson, Popov, Reid, Ridgewell, Rosenberg, Sessegnon, Sinclair, Yacob.
