Town boss Paul Jewell has confirmed that the Blues have received an offer from Portsmouth for skipper Grant Leadbitter. TWTD was first to reveal Pompey’s interest in the 25-year-old midfielder last Thursday.
Jewell says the bid was turned down by the club before he was informed of its size and that talks continue with a view to extending the former Sunderland man’s contract beyond June next year: "Me and Grant have spoken on number of occasions and I don’t really want the situation we had last year where every week I come into the press conference and if it’s not Connor Wickham, it’s Gareth McAuley’s contract or David Norris’s contract.
"I’ve spoken with Grant about that. We’ve turned down an offer from Portsmouth, he knows that. I’ve told him that we want to give him a new contract. He’s happy to sit down but if that offer isn’t acceptable to him, I think in the long-term or the short-term we have to do something about it.
"I don’t want things dragging on,” Jewell continued, "I think he’s cool with that. We want to keep him, he wants to stay. If the owner can do a deal with his agent, we’re all happy. If he can’t, Grant knows the situation is that we might have to sell him. But we’re not looking to sell him, that’s for sure.”
Leadbitter would be available on a Bosman free transfer next summer and would be able to start talking to clubs regarding such a move from January.
Jewell revealed that the Blues and tomorrow’s opponents Southampton were both in for Burnley’s England U21 international striker or winger Jay Rodriguez earlier in the summer.
The Town boss says the Saints’ transfer business during the close season illustrates their intent in their first year back in the Championship: "They finished last season great and they’ve continued that.
"It shows their ambition that they’ve paid £600,000 for Jack Cork, they bid £5 million for Jay Rodriguez and Danny Fox [both from Burnley, signing the latter].
"Rodriguez is a player that we bid a lot of money for in the summer but were told that he wasn’t for sale unless it was £6 million.”
Jewell says Lee Martin is a slight doubt ahead of the visit by Nigel Adkins’s side, while Damien Delaney will be fine after his ankle problem, but that the Blues will again be without Ãvar Ingimarsson due to his thigh strain: "Lee Martin has a little bit of a tight hamstring.
"Damien came through, he hadn’t trained all week and he was certainly tired by the end. Ãvar’s going to be a couple of weeks at least.”
The Town manager said there is no news on the two bids he revealed at the weekend and the Blues appear unlikely to have any new central defensive cover in their squad for the Southampton.