Joe Kinnear has confirmed that Manchester City have made an approach for keeper Shay Given and that the club were insulted by the offer believed to have been in the region of £5million. Despite this the club are extremely aware of Given's desire to leave and could be considering a player plus cash deal ahead of Monday when the transfer window shuts.
Kinnear said;
"We have had approaches for Shay - serious approaches - from Man City. Irrespective of all the stories, they've offered £5m and not a penny more. We think it's an insult to offer that for the best keeper in the Premier League. It's a derisory offer. But Shay has made it clear he wants to leave.
I wasn't involved too much with the meeting between the owner, Shay and his agent when they tried to thrash it out. But as far as I know, the owner and the managing director were unhappy they've only been offered £5m. That's where we stand. I don't want to lose him - I'm fighting a relegation battle."
Given, who sat out of yesterday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City through injury, has been linked with City, Wigan and Aston Villa and is said to be considering handing in a transfer application should the club act as a barrier.
Club Insulted By Given Offer
Posted by: TyneTalk (IP Logged)
Date: 29/01/2009 17:58
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Do they really have all the power? They're way down the table with a huge wage bill and their available keepers are kids. They're panic buying and spending 10M on Wayne Bridge.
I tell you, my opinion of Shay is going to be a bit tainted if he tries to force the club to accept a bid like this.
i cant see us getting what he's worth. the world now know we are at least claiming to be poor. its an open secret that we wont buy until we raise funds through selling. this puts power with the buyer. maybe ashleys (ahem) famous poker skills will make city blink first ahead of the deadline, but i doubt it.
i'm expecting a disappointing figure. if we get 12m for him AND nzogbia i'll be surprised.
it happened to leeds, once the other clubs realised the problems they were in. maybe we arent that bad yet, but if not why havent we signed anyone of note?
If that's the situation then I'd play hardball, point out that Given is contractually obligated to play for NUFC, and refuse to sell him. Reopen the bidding in the summer.
I'm too much of an a$$hole to survive in business, I guess.
When you consider the Mackems paid what? something like 8.5M for Craig Gordon, I think that for Manchester Sh1ty to offer just 5m for Shay is rather cheeky
I would say if we don`t get the valuation keep him and tell the lad he is free to go in the summer. We should`nt be forced into selling him for a knock down price.
If we accept anything less than 10mill it will show that Ashley knows jack-@#$%& about football. Especially with the fee the paid for bridge
I`m sure he`s professional enough to see out the remainder of the season. He`s been here for 10 years now. Is 6 months going to make a big difference
i think given would be a big miss at newcastle, but surely we cant let him go for 5m? hes one of the best premiership goalkeepers around.. it would be an insult to the club and to given to sell for 5m!
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