Dundee reject ‘unbelievable’ £1.8m bid for Caulker
DUNDEE have rejected an ‘unbelievable’ bid in the region of £1.8million from Rosenborg for defender Steven Caulker. The towering 26-year-old only arrived at Dens Park in February when he signed an 18-month deal in an effort to kick-start his faltering career. With the transfer window in Norway open until tonight due to their summer football schedule, Rosenborg could still come back in with an improved offer. But Dens Park manager Neil McCann insisted yesterday they would be wasting their time. He would not confirm the exact value of the bid but said it exceeded the £1m Celtic paid for Jack Hendry. ‘There’s been a bid and Steven has been informed of it,’ declared McCann. ‘It was an unbelievable offer. ‘I’m not prepared to say what the bid actually was but what I will say is it’s in
excess of the transfer fee Celtic paid for Jack Hendry. ‘He (Caulker) is not interested because he wants to stay here. He’s got work to do as far as he’s concerned. ‘I’m not interested in it either. We’re trying to build something here for the future. So, all things considered, I’m very happy. ‘I have to say it’s fantastic for Steven. He has come here and, in such a short space of time, a club has attempted to try to prise him away for that size of transfer fee. ‘It shows how good a player he really is. He’s come here and made a positive impact and has found his love for football again, which is great for this club and everyone concerned,’ added McCann, whose side face Celtic tonight in the first instalment of a daunting Old Firm double header which also sees them face Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday. McCann took heart from a narrow 1-0 loss to Brendan Rodgers’ men earlier in the season and believes his strugglers can give the Premiership leaders a run for their money. ‘I’ve got a lot of belief and trust in the players,’ said the Dundee boss. ‘We have a game-plan going to Parkhead and we’ll need to stick by it, for sure. We came close to getting a positive result and we’ll go with that same mindset.’