Source: FOOTYMAD
Grant is targeted
News broke yesterday that Burnley had switched attention to Lee Grant of Sheffield Wednesday as the search for a new goalkeeper moved on with the chances of signing Newcastle's Fraser Forster diminishing. The Forster deal had looked a certainty, and the 22-year-old was at Turf Moor last week. However, his loan move to Burnley now looks decidedly uncertain with conflicting news coming out of St. James' Park.Brian Laws suggested we might have to look elsewhere, just as he did when Hearts started to demand silly money for Andrew Driver. He said then we'd move to other targets, and within just a couple of days we'd signed Ross Wallace.So it is probably no surprise to learn that we've done just that again. Preston's Andy Lonergan has been constantly linked, and had we not changed manager earlier this year then I'm certain Lonergan would have joined us last season.Now though, after turning down three offers from West Brom, Preston manager Darren Ferguson has placed a £20 million (YES TWENTY MILLION) price tag on him. I can only suggest Ferguson must have been at his dad's red wine before making that comment.So, our attentions have apparently turned to Lee Grant, a player Brian Laws knows well, and one who goalkeeper coach Billy Mercer has also worked with.The former Burnley loan keeper joined Wednesday from Derby, and the Clarets tested them, reportedly, with a £1 million offer, an offer I understand that has been turned down by the League One club.Wednesday and Burnley in negotiations - now that's a recipe for disaster given past experiences with one club or the other trying to sign managers and players from the other.Whether we choose to return with a bigger offer remains to be seen, but it is clear that a new goalkeeper is now very much a top priority and I'm sure Laws would like to have someone in place, certainly before the start of the season.
