City reject a second bid for Adomah

andy.stockhausen@b-nm.co.uk

Crystal Palace will have to come up with more money if they want to prise Albert Adomah away from Ashton Gate.

That is the unanimous verdict from City's board of directors after they turned down a second bid in four days from the Eagles for their prize asset.

Palace tabled an opening offer of £1 million, rising to £1.75m with add-ons, late last week, only to be firmly rebuffed by Robins directors.

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And the answer was again 'no' when they came back in with an improved bid yesterday.

Palace are set to bank £10m up front from the sale of winger Wilfried Zaha to Manchester United and Adomah is the man Eagles boss Ian Holloway wants to replace the England starlet in the long term.

But having already sold Yannick Bolasie to Palace earlier this season, City are clearly prepared to play hard-ball with the South London club. And chairman Keith Dawe and football managing director Jon Lansdown are unlikely to discuss any offer that does not guarantee the Robins a minimum down-payment of £2m.

The ball is now back in Palace's court with the south London club expected to make their third offer ahead of Thursday's deadline for permanent transfers.

City head coach Sean O'Driscoll refused to discuss Palace's latest offer, but insisted Adomah's feelings must be taken into consideration.

On Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ghana in South Africa at the moment, the former Barnet winger has yet to meet O'Driscoll, let alone sit down and discuss his future with City's new head coach.

O'Driscoll said: "We have to include Albert in any discussions about his future. The last thing we want is to end up with a player who is unhappy. Because Albert is away at the moment, the only way we can talk to him is on the telephone, which is not ideal.

"But he has to be involved and his feelings have to be taken into consideration."

Asked about Palace's latest bid, O'Driscoll said: "It's not my club, it's not my money and it's not my remit. I'm here to coach and that is what I'm doing.

"Of course, I have an opinion, but I'm not sure I want to say what it is."

O'Driscoll is already in a position where he needs to recruit a replacement for Ryan Taylor, the striker who broke his collarbone in last Saturday's 2-1 home win over Ipswich Town.

He is also in the market for a centre-half, but, with Thursday's deadline looming, he is more likely to wait until the window for loan signings reopens in February.

Acknowledging the injuries that will rule Taylor and midfielder Neil Kilkenny out of tonight's home Championship clash against Watford, O'Driscoll said: "We've lost two players and one of them probably until the end of the season. But I have to be careful I do not fill the place full of people who are not any better than the ones I've already got.

"People are throwing lots of names at us, but I've seen nothing that will actually improve us. In fact, we are no further advanced than we were this time last week."

O'Driscoll is unlikely to use youngsters to plug the gaps and will opt for more experienced campaigners to replace Taylor and Kilkenny tonight.

He said: "We have some terrific young players at the club, but I don't think now is the right time to put them in. We are in a situation that needs experience and the squad will not change."

Adomah played for 63 minutes as Ghana reached the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Niger yesterday.