The Birmingham Mail report that Leeds have had a bid rejected for David Stockdale which was below what we are looking for. It is not surprising really as whatever asking price we would have set for the 32-year-old, it was always going to be a struggle to find a club that would match it.
When you make a player available for transfer, you don’t give interested parties any reason to up their bid when they know you are not fighting tooth and nail to keep them.
Still, the club should not be pushed into a corner. At the moment, it does look as though that Leeds are the one team to make an official bid for the stopper, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that other clubs won’t now enter the fray now bidding has begun.
With all the criticism that Stockdale received last season, he is still a decent keeper. It is likely the main reason we are trying to sell up is because of his wages, and we certainly shouldn’t be selling a good player like our no.13 on the cheap.
Leeds are in desperate need of a good number one. They used three separate goalkeepers last season in Felix Wiedwald, Andy Lonergan and youngster Bailey Peacock-Farrell. To make a sustained push at the top of the table, they need to make a move for someone who can be their established first choice.
For us, the sale would provide the greater flexibility in our wage structure to make the moves we need in the transfer market. We are not desperate for money so Leeds would be wise to keep that in mind.
On one level, I will be disappointed to see Stockdale leave. Finding a reliable goalkeeper can be a challenge, and while David wasn’t always at his best last season, there are certainly a lot worse out there.
I trust Garry Monk and his team to find a decent replacement, and hopefully, there is an overarching strategy in place that when the keeper leaves, we then quickly make the moves for a replacement, in addition to other recruits.
It is important though to not be a soft touch and allow a good keeper to leave for a low fee. The deal has to be in our best interests.
