Proposed loan deal for Freddy Eastwood collapses

Mar 27 2008

WOLVES striker Freddy Eastwood was the man at the centre of a collapsed loan deal with Coventry City.

The two clubs spent 10 days working on a deal to bring the Welsh international to the Ricoh Arena on loan with a view to a permanent transfer in the summer.

But Wolves pulled the plug on the switch yesterday, just hours before Eastwood scored twice for Wales in their international in Luxembourg.

The Coventry Telegraph, sister paper of the Birmingham Mail, reported that after the end of the loan deal, City would have had an option to buy Eastwood for £1.5m-£2m.

Sky Blues striker Kevin Kyle, currently on loan at Molineux, was not included in the deal.

There had been a sticking point in the loan agreement earlier in the week when Wolves insisted that Eastwood could not play for City when they meet Wolves at the Ricoh Arena on April 26.

City originally refused the request but relented to try to push the deal through. Despite this Wolves changed their mind at the last minute and refused to sanction the loan.

The news has left Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman fuming. He refused to confirm the club involved but said they had acted in an "appalling manner".

"There's nothing we can do, " he said. "The last 24 hours we've been chasing our tails and this is not great news."

Coleman added that it was now unlikely City would be able to draft anybody in ahead of today's 5pm deadline for loan signings.