TALKING MOTHERWELL
MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson hasn’t been pressuring striker Louis Moult into signing a new contract at Fir Park, but he says that talks between the club and the player are ongoing.
Robinson remains hopeful that Moult will not only stay at the club for the coming season, but commit his future beyond that too, although he isn’t about to twist his arm into putting pen to paper.
There has been concrete interest in Moult from various clubs over the summer, with Aberdeen having two bids rejected after failing to meet the Steelmen’s valuation of their star forward.
The striker has scored two stunning goals after climbing off the bench in the last two Betfred Cup games as he continues his recovery from groin surgery.
But Robinson says his concern is getting Moult fully fit for the new campaign, rather than any increase to his valuation that his cameo displays so far may have earned.
“I’m not too worried about what other clubs do or think,” Robinson said. “All I know is that he’s a Motherwell player until somebody tells me otherwise or puts an offer in, and he’ll be 100% committed to Motherwell.
“I don’t want to sell Louis Moult, I’ve made that very clear that I do not want Louis Moult to leave this football club, and I’ve made that very clear to him by putting a contract offer on the table and continuing to speak to him about that.
“Whether he signs that or he doesn’t, it’s entirely up to the boy, but he remains 100% committed. I have a brilliant relationship with him, and as I’ve mentioned numerous times, he’s loved around the place by the staff, the crowd and the players.
“We’re building a team to make sure that he stays, if he doesn’t we’ll deal with that, but while he is here he is very much a part of what we are doing.
“I’ve spoken to him, but at this moment in time he hasn’t signed [the contract]. He’s not been banging down my door and I’ve not been grabbing him by the hair and pulling him in every day.
“It’s on the table, we’ve made it very clear that we can’t go any more money-wise, and it’s something that Louis is considering at the minute. We’ll keep talking.”
WHEN pushed on whether Moult had given him any indication on what way he was leaning over committing to a new deal, Robinson said: “Not at the moment, no, all I know is that he’s available for us next season as a Motherwell player and we’ve had no offers to us that would suggest otherwise.
“Hopefully that doesn’t happen. I want to keep Louis Moult at this football club.”
Robinson puts his team’s flying start to their Betfred Cup campaign down to the quick bonds that his players have forged with one another.
He has made an effort to eradicate any cliques in the Fir Park dressing room since taking the reins, and he says the approach is bearing fruit as they look to get another win over Edinburgh City this evening.
“I think last year when I came into the club there were groups of people who would sit together at dinner or travel up to training in their cars together,” he said.
“The first thing I did was say that everybody would go up together on the mini bus. I didn’t care who they were or MOTHERWELL have completed the signing of young striker George Newell on a contract until the end of the season.
The 20-year-old, who is the son of former Blackburn Rovers striker Mike Newell, will initially play in Stephen Craigan’s under-20s side, but manager Stephen Robinson expects him to be pushing for the first team before too long.
He said: “We are really excited with what we have seen from George already.
“He’s played a couple of games for our Under 20s and has really shone, scoring a couple of goals. Although he’ll form part of that group, I fully expect to see him push for a spot.
“He’s young and is one of those busy, never-saydie strikers fans love.”
Newell came through the ranks at Everton before moving to Bolton in 2015, making two appearances.
The striker said: “I’m really excited and I can’t wait to get started. All the lads here are really friendly.”