Just a few days after Lukas Jutkiewicz scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough, The Teeside club is believed to have made a £1m offer for the 22 year old Coventry City striker.
The move is the last thing the Sky Blues boss Andy Thorn wanted as he is desperately still trying to find a striker for his own small, but injury ravished side. Jutkiewicz has scored both of Coventry's league goals of this season
However, Coventry City are so deep in financial trouble and their owners Sisu will be more likely to listen to offers for players than they are to spend money. The news comes hot on the heels of the interest from Cardiff City and Birmingham City in Coventry's central defender Ben Turner and will not please the increasingly disillusioned Sky Blue faithful.
Jutkiewicz, who joined City from Everton last year and who still has nearly two years left to run on his contract, has been the subject of transfer rumour all summer, including his home town club Southampton. but so far nothing has come of it.
Jutkiewicz has been seen as Marlon King's successor by Thorn and as such he is a key player and Thorn's number one choice striker and to lose him would be a severe blow. To make matters worse, if Jutkiewicz were to be sold, it would leave Thorn with no time and little money to find replacements as the transfer window closes on Wednesday evening.
Cardiff are interested in signing Ben Turner and are thought to have offered cash, thought to be around £750,000 and their out of favour striker Jon Parkin for the talented player, but although Parkin is a striker, he is not the sort of player that would easily fit into Thorn's style of play.
"It massages the ego a bit but I’ve been happy enough here and it’s up to Coventry to decide whether they want to sell me or not. I’m Coventry’s player and they deemed that the bid put in was not acceptable to how they value me.”
Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray, who after watching Jutkiewicz score against his side was quizzed by the media about his plans for new signings made no mention of Jutkiewicz, but did say he was hoping to strengthen his attacking options and bring in a couple of strikers and hinted that negotiations were "well down the line" with two deals