Scunthorpe makes offer for Taylor

CHRIS TAYLOR

SCUNTHORPE United have tabled a bid for Athletic wing-wizard Chris Taylor.

The Iron want to add the six-goal man to their ranks as they prepare for life after star forward Martyn Woolford, who is a target for Nottingham Forest.

But Athletic boss Paul Dickov is keen to hang on to Taylor and says he will only depart Boundary Park if suitors are prepared to stump up a significant amount of money.

“For somebody to take him it would have to be at the right price, a very good price,” said the Scot after Athletic confirmed they had received the offer.

Scunthorpe manager Ian Baraclough sees Taylor (24) as a like-for-like replacement for Woolford as he looks to build a team capable of avoiding relegation from the npower Championship.

A fee of £250,000 has been mooted as the Glanford Park outfit’s offer for Taylor’s services.

But the offer would have to be increased to tempt Boundary Park bosses into selling — despite the club’s precarious financial state.

Play-off chasing Dickov is reluctant to lose a player who has sprung back to prominence this term after a hugely disappointing 2009-10 campaign.

And Taylor himself — a player who has risen through the ranks at Athletic — may not particularly relish what could be considered a sideways step to a club currently second-bottom of their league with only one home win this season.

Leeds United were linked with a swoop for Taylor last year, and there has also been interest in the past from Blackpool and Doncaster.


White signs again
ATHLETIC have re-signed Leeds winger Aidan White on a season-long loan, and have also snapped up manager Paul Dickov’s former Blackburn team-mate Andy Todd (36) for the rest of the campaign.

White returned to his parent club for treatment on ankle ligament damage sustained during Athletic’s defeat to Rochdale, but is now fit enough to return.

Defender Todd, back in the UK after leaving Perth Glory in Australia, trained with Athletic for the first time today.

The club hope he gains international clearance in time for Saturday’s trip to Carlisle.

Speculation is also rife that Reuben Reid is the striker Dickov has in his sights.

The 22-year-old West Brom forward scored six goals for Walsall in a spell on loan at the Banks’s Stadium earlier this season.

Reid signed for the Baggies from Rotherham at the start of last season for a fee of around £200,000.


JON Worthington has had his Athletic contract terminated.
The midfielder was yesterday recalled from his emergency loan at Bradford City, after playing only one game, and now has the chance to join another club on a permanent basis before the transfer window shuts on Monday.

Ferenc Fodor has also severed his ties with the club. The 19-year-old Hungarian centre-back, one of a clutch of players who joined on loan from MTK Budapest last season, will now return to his homeland.