City to Hijack Swansea's Tate Bid?

Bluebird or Jack?
By Chris O'Brien
January 30 2004

Cardiff City are believed to be looking to hijack Swansea's bid for Manchester United's Alan Tate, and bring the 21-year-old to Ninian Park. The defender has spent two loan spells with the Jacks, and has been discussing personal terms with our arch-rivals for the past week.

Cardiff City are believed to have launched an eleventh hour bid to try and snatch Manchester United defender Alan Tate away from the clutches of arch-rivals Swansea City.

Tate has spent two loan spells at the Vetch Field, and with the offer of first-team football at Old Trafford highly unlikely, the 21-year-old has been in talks with the Jacks about a permanent move to the club.

Swansea have been told by the Premiership champions that they can sign the promising defender on a free-transfer, meaning Brian Flynn only needed to agree personal terms with Tate before he put pen-to-paper with the Third Division side.

''There has been plenty of interest in Alan and I know he has spoken to other clubs in the First and Second Divisions, but we're hopeful that he will be rejoining us,'' said the Swansea City manager.

''I said when his second loan spell ended last month that I didn't expect to see Alan back in the near future, but at that stage he was still chasing the dream of playing for United.

''They have since told him that he can leave if he wants to, and we're now looking to conclude something as quickly as possible.

''Everybody has seen what a good player Alan is and it would be something of a coup if we could get him.''

First Division Burnley, Watford and Gillingham are also believed to be showing interest in Alan Tate as well as the Bluebirds, but it is believed that Tate will ignore the temptation to play in a higher tier of the Football League, and will sign for Swansea on a permanent basis. Still, it’s nice to make the Jacks sweat!

On the off-chance that Tate did sign for the Bluebirds, we would sign a bright prospect who at one time was tipped to succeed at Old Trafford. The strong defensive options the Red Devils have has meant Tate has struggled to get himself into first-team contention, but he is still a player with bags of potential and ability.