Town boss Paul Jewell has revealed that Peterborough United have accepted a joint bid for midfielder George Boyd (above) and striker Paul Taylor (below). The Blues manager, who also confirmed that Town are in talks with Celtic regarding former loanee Daryl Murphy, is set to meet with the Posh pair this afternoon to talks terms.
Speaking after last night’s Capital One Cup second round defeat at Carlisle, Jewell said: "It’s apparent we need players, I’ve been saying that for a while now.
"We made an offer for a couple of players [on Monday] and I’m hoping to try and move that forward [on Wednesday].
"[Peterborough have] accepted an offer from us and I’m meeting [the players] tomorrow and hopefully we can move that forward.”
As reported yesterday, Town are also in talks regarding Daryl Murphy’s return on loan from Celtic: "There’s the possibility that that might happen. We need some height in the team.
"It’s not just height, we don’t want to bring giants in, we want people who can play. The squad needs strengthening, not just the team. We’ve got to be able to make changes that can affect games.”
Having been in the North-West for the last few days he admits he’s not certain how far the deal which would see the Irish international return to Suffolk for a third loan spell has progressed: "I think he’s on Celtic’s bench tomorrow, so I’m not quite sure where we are with that.
"We’re trying to bring in not just those three, but we’re trying to bring one or two others in as well.
"We’re hoping that it’ll be busy [in the next few days before Friday's 11pm deadline]. It’s been a long, frustrating summer but hopefully, I don’t like to count my chickens, but hopefully we can get things sorted out in the next 24 or 48 hours.
"What we’re trying to do is bring players in, whether they’ll be loans or permanents depends on a lot of factors.”
Jewell refused to be drawn any further regarding Boyd and Taylor, who reports from Peterborough suggest will cost the Blues £2 million, until the deals are done: "I’ll answer those questions hopefully in the next couple of days.”
Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony confirmed that his club had accepted offers on Twitter but not who they were for or from whom: "I won't speak about clubs but [I] can confirm Posh have accepted multiple bids for some of our listed players as [this] is how [the] market works."
Both Boyd and Taylor had been placed on the transfer list having refused to accept new contracts with a year remaining on their current deals.
Boyd, 26, has been linked with the Blues since his days with Stevenage. The central or left midfielder, a Charlton schoolboy as a youngster, joined Posh for a then-record Conference transfer fee of £260,000 in 2007.
The 6ft 1in tall Chatham-born player moved to Nottingham Forest on loan in March 2010 with a view to a longer-term switch but made only five starts and one sub appearance while at the City Ground, the latter against Town, before returning to London Road and signing his current contract.
England C cap and Scotland B cap Boyd, who was promoted from League One twice and League Two once with Posh, has made 261 starts and seven sub appearances while with Peterborough, scoring 70 goals. Jewell watched him in action the day after he had been appointed Town boss in January 2011.
While Boyd has a long history with Posh, 24-year-old Taylor only joined the Cambridgeshire side last year. The Liverpudlian played youth football with Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City before moving on to Conference North side Vauxhall Motors, joining Chester City, then in League Two, on loan in the summer of 2008. After he had made two starts and seven sub appearances, his Chester loan was terminated with news subsequently emerging that he had tested positive for cocaine and as a result he was banned for six months. The 5ft 7in tall frontman joined Belgian side Montegnée on his return to football, doing well enough to earn a move to Anderlecht in December 2009. A loan spell at Charleroi followed and in March 2011, without him appearing for Anderlecht, he joined Posh after impressing while on trial. Last season Taylor netted 12 goals in 38 starts and nine sub appearances. This year he has scored twice — including one in last night’s 3-2 Capital One Cup defeat to Reading — in five games. Meanwhile, Aston Villa seem unlikely to renew their interest in Aaron Cresswell with manager Paul Lambert having confirmed that his club has made an approach for Middlesbrough left-back Joe Bennett: "Hopefully something might happen on that. Has a bid gone in? Near enough."What to read next:
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