Dundee United manager Micky Mellon said there is “nothing to report on anything at the minute” when asked about his loan interest in Blues striker James Norwood, who played for him at his former club Tranmere Rovers.
TWTD reported that the Terrors were keen on Norwood and defender Toto Nsiala last month, with stories in Scotland earlier this week indicating that the Scottish Premiership side were working on a loan deal for the 29-year-old frontman, who joined the Blues from Tranmere on a free transfer last summer.
Asked about that interest in Norwood, Mellon responded without mentioning the striker by name.
"We wouldn’t speak about anybody’s players until we had something to speak about,” he told the Dundee Courier.
"We are trying to recruit honestly and it is an ongoing thing for us. If we believe there is someone who will come in and make us better we would try to do that but I would never speak about somebody else’s player — I wouldn’t do that.
"I would wait until it was respectful to them because I would expect them to be that way with us.
"So there is nothing to report on anything at the minute. We are not at a stage where I can say: ‘There’s somebody here and he’s getting a medical'. There is nothing close to that at the moment.”
Quizzed on whether anyone would be signed before tomorrow’s home game with Celtic, he added: "Listen, who knows? These things can happen overnight. These things can take a long time. These things might never happen.
"Until there is somebody here in the building then I don’t have anything I can help you with or report on. There is nothing imminent.”
Norwood, who is contracted to Town until the summer of 2022 with the club having an option for a further season, netted 11 times in 2019/20, despite being hampered by a groin injury for much of the campaign.
Town are not looking to offload Norwood this summer, while the Scottish Premiership side would struggle to cover his Portman Road wages.
Additionally, given the constraints of the League One salary cap, if Norwood were to move on Town would find it difficult to bring in another striker of a similar standard.
Norwood didn’t feature in the Blues’ friendlies at Colchester on Tuesday as he is continuing the rehabilitation from the groin operation he underwent in February. It’s unlikely he will be involved at Tottenham tomorrow but he may play some part when West Ham visit Portman Road on Tuesday.