Town boss Roy Keane is reported to have made Cardiff City a £3 million offer for striker Michael Chopra, in the wake of the Bluebirds’ failure to win the play-offs. Keane, who is also understood to have told Owen Garvan, Colin Healy, Alan Quinn and Alex Bruce that they are no longer in his plans, is a big fan of the former England U21 international, who he signed when manager of Sunderland.
Cardiff’s financial situation is no longer quite as parlous as it was a few months ago when Town looked to sign left-back Mark Kennedy, the club are in the process of being taken over by a Malaysian consortium, and the Bluebirds are likely to want to keep hold of this season’s 21-goal top scorer.
Keane took Chopra from Cardiff to Sunderland for £5 million in the summer of 2007, the former Newcastle man netting eight times in 24 starts and 18 sub appearances during his time at the Stadium of Light.
The 26-year-old’s record in his spells with Cardiff is more prolific, the frontman scoring 22 goals in 44 games in his first and 30 in 67 starts and 11 appearances from the bench since returning, initially on loan during 2008/09.
Earlier on in the season, Keane said he would have been interested in signing Chopra last summer but was aware that his £3 million permanent move back to Wales was already all but done by the time he took over at Portman Road.
While Keane would clearly be delighted to have Chopra in his squad, the Blues boss recently questioned whether Town would be able to afford to pay the wages and fee for a striker of Chopra’s standing.
It’s little surprise that Keane sees Garvan, Quinn, Healy and Bruce as surplus to requirements with none of the four regulars in his side this season. All four are contracted until 2011.
Garvan came back into Keane’s side for the final day of the season match against Sheffield United, having been in and out of the team throughout the season, while Quinn was rarely involved during the second half of the campaign and Bruce and Healy sent out on loan to Leicester and Falkirk respectively.
Leicester are understood to be interested in signing Bruce permanently, although the clubs are yet to agree a fee for the Irish international defender.
Meanwhile, former Blue Darren Ambrose is reported to be in talks with QPR regarding personal terms after Crystal Palace’s administrators agreed a £750,000 fee with the club now managed by former Eagles’ boss Neil Warnock.