QPR boss Neil Warnock has confirmed that his club were the non-Premier League side which made a bid for Jon Walters at the end of last week. Meanwhile, the new Chester FC, which was formed from the ashes of Chester City after they were wound up in March, are not entitled to any sell-on from the player’s sale to Stoke, according to sources in Cheshire.
Warnock says that having missed out on Walters, he’ll now have to start the hunt for two replacements: "The thing is, Jonathan could have played up front or on the right and now I’ve got to look for two different players for the same role.”
In July it was reported that QPR had had an initial offer of £2.5 million rebuffed by the Blues. Last week’s bid was likely to have been at the £2.75 million rising to £3.25 million level subsequently matched by Stoke.
Meanwhile, it’s understood the new Chester FC club, formed after the collapse of Walters’s old side Chester City, aren’t entitled to the 20% sell-on which was included in the terms of the 26-year-old’s move to the Blues in January 2007.
A deal of an initial £100,000 and another £100,000 based on appearances and relating to Town’s league performance plus 20% of any future profit was agreed when Walters made the switch, having impressed former manager Jim Magilton in the third round FA Cup ties between the sides earlier in the month.
Town are likely to have paid most but not all of the second £100,000 and, having sold the Republic of Ireland B international to Stoke for a fee of £2.75 million rising to £3.25 million, the old Chester City would have received a windfall which in time could potentially have been worth more than £600,000.
The new Chester FC begin life in the Evo-Stick League Division One North, the eighth tier of the pyramid, on August 28th when they take on Warrington Town away.