IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF LUCRE TO LAND KIPRE
BY MICHAEL GANNON STEPHEN ROBINSON has warned clubs looking to snap up Cedric Kipre there’s no chance Motherwell will let the defender go on the cheap.
The 21-year-old penned a new two-year deal until summer 2020 on the eve of the Steelmen’s stunning Scottish Cup semi-final victory against Aberdeen last week.
Kipre is already a man in demand though with MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps one of several clubs around the globe keeping track of the Ivory Coast ace and preparing to test the water with a £1million bid at the end of the season.
But Robinson is determined to keep hold of the talented youngster and insists it would take a big-money offer to make the Fir Park side even consider cashing in.
The Well boss said: “I’m not actively looking to sell him. It’s the nature of the game when you are talking about talented young guys.
“He won’t go for a small amount of money. We’ve got him on a long contract and he’ll only go for what I value him at.
“We have a lot of assets at this club and sides are interested in five or six of them. It shows the recruitment has been right and we are developing in the right way.
“Hopefully we don’t have to sell any of them – I don’t want to sell any of them.
“I am trying to build a team to take forward. When you have 4000 fans you will always be a selling club but it is on our terms.
“Maybe in previous years we were under pressure to sell financially but that’s not the case now.
“The board have backed me completely. We don’t have millions in the bank but they have put everything back into the side and it has allowed me to protect assets like Cedric.
“He came here as a young boy but has proved himself quickly.”
Robinson rates Kipre as a top talent but he’s hoping the stopper continues his development with the Steelmen next term.
He said: “He still makes naive decisions and mistakes you can make at Under-23 level, where it doesn’t really matter.
“But he’s improving every day and he wants to improve. Cedric and Charles Dunne are two guys you can’t get off the training pitch.
“They have a drive and we have a coaching staff who want to make younger players better and get them into the team.”
Robinson is looking to build – and he refused to rule out making a move for Rangers outcast Kenny Miller in the summer.
The experienced hitman has played his last game for Gers after being banished from the first team.
The 38-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and Robinson said: “Kenny is a Rangers player. It would be wrong for me to talk about any player who is under contract elsewhere.”
Robinson’s plans for next term are underway but he’s looking for a strong finish to the current campaign ahead of the Scottish Cup Final on May 19.
The Well boss insists his men won’t take their foot off the gas as they kick off their bottom six run-in at Ross County tomorrow.
Robinson said: “We can’t afford to have any complacency at all.
“Momentum is massive. In 2011, when the club last reached the Final, the team took a few beatings and maybe went in with a slightly negative mindset.”