Alex McLeish confesses that ‘massive’ fees and wages do not help January window shopping
Dec 15 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail
ALEX McLeish has confessed that ‘massive’ fees and wages do not help his cause in making the right January moves.
Blues have been looking at Schalke 04 striker Kevin Kuranyi, among others, but his asking price is £5 million and reported salary demands a staggering £130,000 a week.
McLeish would not comment directly on Kuranyi, but he said: “It’s not easy getting players in, certainly ones we think can maintain the standard here, or improve the standard here, without spending massive, disproportionate wages.”
It is understood that talks have reopened with Sporting Gijon about midfielder Michel – a player who would not cost the earth – but again McLeish would not commit one way or the other when asked about him.
“We are keeping all the players [like him] monitored and they are all on-going in terms of research.
“We’re not going to make any statements or comments about links just now until I’ve got something for sure to tell the punters.”
McLeish reiterated his stance that it was probably not wise to target the superstar types for next month’s window anyway, aside from the cost.
“We will try and enhance the quality. For me, getting the quality on the pitch, getting the quality in reserve, is vital for us.
“But, again, the difficulty is it’s OK saying you’ve got a lot of money to spend, but it’s bringing the right characters in and maybe not taking too big a leap in terms of the superstar, the galactico, coming in on a lot of money and a big transfer fee.
“It’s hard to get the right players in, to keep the momentum going, to try and keep the club building towards the future.”
He added: “One [top quality] player can transform a team, no doubt about it. We are a wee bit fragile in some positions and if we were to get an injury or suspension to key players that would make it tougher for us.”
Another of McLeish’s concerns is that potential selling clubs won’t crack easy: “We would like to be in position to get players in as soon as January comes.
“But, as I said, people might think on paper it looks easy having a couple of bob to spend, I can assure you it’s not.
“Teams will hedge their bets probably right until the very last day in January as well.
“We would like to try and be ahead of the game in such respect. But there are no guarantees of that.”
