Town boss Paul Jewell has revealed that he made attempts to sign England internationals Matthew Upson and Jonathan Woodgate when they were available on free transfers earlier in the summer. The Blues lost out with the duo both joining Premier League Stoke, while Jewell currently has a bid lodged with a club for another centre-half.
Jewell says he has been looking to add to his central defensive ranks — which are currently depleted due to Ãvar Ingimarsson’s thigh injury — all summer: "I want four centre-halves, that’s ideally what I’d like. The biggest problem is that we’re all chasing the same players.
"I’ve made lots of offers. We went for Upson, I know he’s left-sided but we were interested in him, but he was going to go to the Premier League.
"We asked about Woodgate but he was going to go to the Premier League. There are lots of names that the media haven’t mentioned that we’ve gone for and haven’t got because there were Premier League clubs in for them.
"That’s where we are. If you’re a player and get a Premiership team and a Championship team interested, more often than not you’re going to go to the Premier League team.”
The Blues boss says things didn’t get too far down the line with Suffolk-born Upson, who was a player in Town’s Centre of Excellence as a schoolboy: "We didn’t get far because it was always difficult. But that’s the type we went for. We spoke to his agent but unfortunately there was Premier League interest. This was months ago.
"The problem with a player like that is he is going to attract Premier League interest. That’s why I don’t comment on speculation or give the media names. I don’t think that name has been mentioned, I don’t think Woodgate was mentioned. I did see Sol Campbell mentioned but there was no truth in that.”
Upson, 32 was released by West Ham at the end of last season, while 31-year-old Woodgate, a former Leeds team-mate of Lee Bowyer, was let go by Spurs.