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Steven Pressley fears he could be gazumped in bid to sign on-loan Sheffield Wednesday striker on permanent deal
Steven Pressley fears he could be gazumped in his bid to sign Gary Madine on a permanent Coventry City deal.
The Sky Blues boss is determined to land the Sheffield Wednesday striker but expects stiff competition from clubs who are better placed to pay a fee for his services,
Madine is out of contract at Hillsborough in the summer and City had hoped to buy a bit of time by extending the 24-year-old’s loan spell for another month in the hope that the Owls would let him out for nothing.
But Pressley admitted: “I don’t think we’ll be able to do that. I think Sheffield will be in a situation where there are a lot of suitors for Gary. That’s the reality of the situation so I don’t think they’ll feel the necessity to put him out on loan again and it’s a case of whether we can secure him permanently or not.
“They may well want a fee and if they do then it’s going to be very difficult to bring him here. And the reality is there will be a queue the length of my arm that will take a fit Gary Madine who has been playing regular first-team football. But we’re going to try.”
He added: “Unfortunately there aren’t that many strikers available in January. Those that are have been sitting twiddling their thumbs for the last three months but here’s an in-form striker who’s played 90 minutes of football every week, ready to go, and you have a lot of clubs desperate for somebody like that.”
If City fail to land Madine, one man who could fill his boots is Frank Nouble who, it’s understood, is available for free in the transfer window.
Pressley has had his doubts about the Ipswich front man in recent weeks but his performance against Chesterfield has given the manager encouragement and the fans’ favourite has one last chance to impress him at Walsall on Saturday in his final game of his loan spell.
“Frank can potentially play up as a lone striker or off the sides,” said Pressley, who revealed that taking the striker on a short-term deal until the end of the season is one possibility.
“He’s a player who gives us a number of options and I thought he played particularly well at the weekend. He’s a threat and he worked to the system on Sunday and showed us all he’s more than capable of doing that.”
Asked about any misgivings about the player, he said: “The only way Frank can answer my doubts is by not telling me he’ll do it, but actually doing it, and I’ve said this to him.
“His best performances this season, and it’s no coincidence, have all been the times when he’s worked for the team within those performances and he’s reaped the benefits.
“That was the case at the weekend when we saw flashes of brilliance from him but he also nworked hard for the team and that’s vitally important because that’s been my real ethos at this football club – that we’re all in this together. He did that on Sunday and I was really pleased with him.
“I’ve not ruled anything out with Frank at this moment in time, and I genuinely mean that – I have still not made a decision.
“He’s a player who can certainly play as the main striker and he can play off the side in the system we played at the weekend. Hopefully he can reproduce the same type of performance against Walsall and make my job much easier in terms of making a decision on him.”
Steven Pressley fears he could be gazumped in his bid to sign Gary Madine on a permanent Coventry City deal.
The Sky Blues boss is determined to land the Sheffield Wednesday striker but expects stiff competition from clubs who are better placed to pay a fee for his services,
Madine is out of contract at Hillsborough in the summer and City had hoped to buy a bit of time by extending the 24-year-old’s loan spell for another month in the hope that the Owls would let him out for nothing.
But Pressley admitted: “I don’t think we’ll be able to do that. I think Sheffield will be in a situation where there are a lot of suitors for Gary. That’s the reality of the situation so I don’t think they’ll feel the necessity to put him out on loan again and it’s a case of whether we can secure him permanently or not.
“They may well want a fee and if they do then it’s going to be very difficult to bring him here. And the reality is there will be a queue the length of my arm that will take a fit Gary Madine who has been playing regular first-team football. But we’re going to try.”
He added: “Unfortunately there aren’t that many strikers available in January. Those that are have been sitting twiddling their thumbs for the last three months but here’s an in-form striker who’s played 90 minutes of football every week, ready to go, and you have a lot of clubs desperate for somebody like that.”
If City fail to land Madine, one man who could fill his boots is Frank Nouble who, it’s understood, is available for free in the transfer window.
Pressley has had his doubts about the Ipswich front man in recent weeks but his performance against Chesterfield has given the manager encouragement and the fans’ favourite has one last chance to impress him at Walsall on Saturday in his final game of his loan spell.
“Frank can potentially play up as a lone striker or off the sides,” said Pressley, who revealed that taking the striker on a short-term deal until the end of the season is one possibility.
“He’s a player who gives us a number of options and I thought he played particularly well at the weekend. He’s a threat and he worked to the system on Sunday and showed us all he’s more than capable of doing that.”
Asked about any misgivings about the player, he said: “The only way Frank can answer my doubts is by not telling me he’ll do it, but actually doing it, and I’ve said this to him.
“His best performances this season, and it’s no coincidence, have all been the times when he’s worked for the team within those performances and he’s reaped the benefits.
“That was the case at the weekend when we saw flashes of brilliance from him but he also nworked hard for the team and that’s vitally important because that’s been my real ethos at this football club – that we’re all in this together. He did that on Sunday and I was really pleased with him.
“I’ve not ruled anything out with Frank at this moment in time, and I genuinely mean that – I have still not made a decision.
“He’s a player who can certainly play as the main striker and he can play off the side in the system we played at the weekend. Hopefully he can reproduce the same type of performance against Walsall and make my job much easier in terms of making a decision on him.”
