Doncaster striker Billy Sharp will not be amongst the players Town boss Paul Jewell will be targeting during the January transfer window. The Blues manager, who had a £2.3 million offer for Sharp rebuffed in the summer, says the £3 million required to trigger a clause in the 25-year-old frontman’s contract is too rich for Town.
Jewell said: "We obviously went for Billy in the summer and for whatever reason it didn’t happen, but at that price it’s definitely out of our price range.”
The Liverpudlian says he’s not aware quite how much he’ll have to spend as he looks to strengthen his squad in January — owner Marcus Evans and chief executive Simon Clegg tending to look at individual deals on their merits rather than having a set budget — but feels few Championship clubs will pay out that sort of cash for one player: "I don’t know what the pot is but I don’t think there are many Championship clubs who are going to pay £3 million.
"West Ham bought Kevin Nolan for £5 million but other than that I don’t know what the biggest transfer in the Championship was last summer, but certainly £3 million is well out of our league.”
In the summer, Southampton had a £3.25 million offer for Sharp accepted by Rovers but the player turned down the move. The Saints, Wigan, Leicester, Cardiff and Burnley are amongst the clubs said to be targeting the former Sheffield United man in January.
Jewell was unaware that Bristol City had made striker Nicky Maynard available for transfer with the 25-year-old out of contract in the summer and having turned down a new contract: "Maynard’s a good striker at this level, that’s proven. He might be one like Shane Long where a lot of Premier League clubs are interested.
"When you’re up against Premier League teams for a player, it’s very, very difficult for Championship teams to compete because of the money, let’s be honest. And players want to go to the Premiership.”
Meanwhile, former Blues boss Jim Magilton has been linked with the vacant manager’s job at Hartlepool United.
Magilton has reportedly missed out on the same role with Northern Ireland with Michael O’Neill, to whom the ex-Town skipper is currently assistant at Shamrock Rovers, apparently set to be named as Nigel Worthington’s successor.
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