PLUS: BOSS ON CALLUM WILSON & A NEW ARRIVAL
HOPES of a Coventry City cash windfall to help boost Mark Robins’s strike force this January appear to be fading after it is becoming increasingly unlikely that Callum Wilson will move from Bournemouth in the transfer window.
The former Sky Blues star has been a target for Premier League Chelsea who are reported to have switched their attention to AC Milan’s Gonzalo Higuain.
City have a sell-on clause on the 26-year-old, believed to be 10 per cent, who has been rated anywhere between £50million£75million. And Robins has been told that should the club benefit from his sale then he can go out and buy what the manager says would be “a game changer” to their season.
Although Chelsea’s interest has cooled, Tottenham and West Ham are also reported to be interested in the pacy striker who bagged 22 goals in 49 league games for his home town club before being sold to the Cherries for £3m in 2014.
Speaking for the first time about the chance of having a sudden transfer kitty should Wilson be sold this January, Robins told the Telegraph: “There is a possibility there. “Obviously speaking to my bosses we are trying to get into a position where we can do something if something like that happens.
“So yes, we’re spinning a lot of plates. That’s the best way of describing it I think.
“But we are looking for that one that can be a game changer for us and give us the platform to mount a really strong challenge the way Portsmouth and Luton Town have done this year. “It’s exciting, even though it’s not a concrete thing.
“The plans are there and everything is in place but we just have to make sure there are others just in case because things don’t always work out perfectly all the time.
“But we’re in a position where we’re comfortable at the moment and the fact that the club isn’t in a position where we have to release players and get people out to make money or save money says a lot about where we have come in the last two years.”
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has revealed no offers have been launched for Wilson from any club as of yet.
“We’ve had no interest in any of our players,” said the Cherries boss.
“Everything has just been speculation, which you understand as this is the month for it.
“From my perspective and the team we have above me, we are always working together to try and find solutions to make the squad stronger and continue to move the team forward.
“They’re the main things. “We’ll do that again, like we have done through the process that we’ve been together, for the benefit of Bournemouth.
No interest or no actual enquiries? “No, nothing.”
West Ham have also been linked with a move for Wilson this month.
The Hammers may have a large amount of cash to play with if star striker Marko Arnautovic forces a move away from the club.
“I don’t want to place any more pressure on Callum or any of my players by talking about things that aren’t important,” Howe added.
There is a possibility there. Obviously speaking to my bosses we are trying to get into a position where we can do something Mark Robins