Make or break today, Warnock in Monaco to find out if Bates will loosen purse strings,if not, will he walk? = Joel Ward was poised to finalise a transfer to Crystal Palace today and draw a line under Leeds United’s fraught attempt to sign him.
The Portsmouth right-back is expected to move to Selhurst Park after undergoing a medical and agreeing personal terms.Leeds manager Neil Warnock has been pushing to bring Ward to Elland Road since holding talks with the 22-year-old two weeks ago but a prime target appears to have slipped through his fingers with Leeds unable to finance a £400,000 fee.The impending loss of Ward will come as a frustration to Warnock, raising questions about United’s ability to fund his plans for a major summer overhaul of the squad at Leeds.United paid Portsmouth around £500,000 to make centre-back Jason Pearce their first signing of the summer on May 4 but the club’s failure to commit to the cost of recruiting Ward has allowed Palace to step in and line up a deal.The London club were one of six sides who expressed a firm interest in Ward - joined in the race by Burnley, Ipswich Town, Blackpool and Sheffield Wednesday - and Ward is believed to have met with Palace boss Dougie Freedman for the second time on Wednesday.Barring any last-minute complications, a transfer to Selhurst Park was due to go through by Monday at the latest, leaving Warnock to begin his summer break with only one player signed in a month when he hoped to secure at least three deals.Warnock, who is departing on holiday this weekend, made no secret of the need for a quick and high-calibre influx of players at Elland Road having told 11 existing squad members that they had no future with Leeds earlier this month.The United boss said: “Quite honestly you’ve seen with my retained list that I don’t think we’re anywhere near as good as we should be with the size of this club.” _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
