BRISTOL CITY: Andre Gray set to make Burnley debut at Ashton Gate after turning Robins down. By a_stockhausen please log in to view this image Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill is keeping his next move in the transfer market a closely-guarded secret. BURNLEY record signing Andre Gray will almost certainly make his Clarets debut against Bristol City next Saturday, just nine days after rejecting a move to Ashton Gate. Prepared to smash their transfer record to land the Brentford striker, Championship newcomers City tabled a staggering bid of up to £9m for the 24-year-old marksman. But Gray and City were unable to agree personal terms and, once Hull boss Steve Bruce pulled out of the race, the way was left clear for Burnley to court a player who scored 18 goals in the Championship last season. Burnley matched Brentford's asking price and, buoyed up by a lucrative Premier League parachute payment, Clarets boss Sean Dyche was able to satisfy the striker's wage demands. Gray penned a three year deal just hours too late to be considered for last Saturday's home game against his former club, Brentford, and he is now in line to make his debut for the Lancashire outfit at Ashton Gate next weekend. Steve Cotterill's City take on Burnley in their final game before the two-week international break and Gray can expect a hot reception from Robins fans after turning the club down. Having seen the club's moves for Gray and Dwight Gayle splashed all over the media, Cotterill was reluctant to discuss the transfer market with journalists after Saturday's memorable 1-0 win against Middlesbrough at the Riverside. Not surprisingly, he refused to answer questions about Gray and also declined to open up on potential alternative targets. Cotterill is still eager to recruit a goal-scoring forward with Championship experience ahead of the September 1 transfer deadline, but the Robins have served notice that they will not be held to ransom. Having failed to attract either Gray or Crystal Palace striker Dwight Gayle to BS3, City's manager may well wait for the window for loan signings to reopen next month and instead seek short-term options. Unlike Gayle, Gray was at least prepared to stage meaningful talks with City after Brentford accepted a bid that would have seen the Robins pay around £6m up front in a deal which could have risen to as much as £9m with add-ons. But the Post understands the two parties were a significant distance apart when it came to wage negotiations. Given that City majority shareholder Steve Lansdown has demonstrated his willingness to lavish vast sums of money on transfer fees, the process of team rebuilding looks set to continue for a while yet with Cotterill and director of football Keith Burt also scouring the market for a centre-back and a central midfielder. http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTO...urnley-debut/story-27660916-detail/story.html
So we are still looking to bring in 3 more players, a striker, a centre-back and a central midfielder, could be an exciting week..
I was rather hoping that clubs trying to offload surplus players wouldn't try and fleece us after we showed our financial intent on Gray and Gayle. That to me is the main problem with the last week of the transfer window, in that clubs tend to overspend silly money on poor choice players. Cots has set out his bargain stall and I hope he sticks to his comments in regard to the types of new players he wants and that he is not prepared to pay over the odds. You show them Steve, and we look forward to some reward for your endeavours and hope you do not have to deal with excessive demands for your targets.
So, back to where we were with no new players then. Got to pay the rate or they won't come, simple as that....
Lingard and Powell would be two incredible signings for us, given two have played together many times before for the Man Utd U21's, and both would be rock solid at this level.
There was a rumour that we were going to buy him for £2.5m, but our local press have said any deal was just rumour, and that it was unlikely that Man Utd would want to sell, since he's threatened to break into their first-team squad a number of times. If we were to land him, £2.5m would be an absolute steal. I reckon he'd join us on loan though.
