Doncaster striker Billy Sharp will not be amongst the players Town boss Paul Jewell will be targeting during the January transfer window. The Blues manager, who had a £2.3 million offer for Sharp rebuffed in the summer, says the £3 million required to trigger a clause in the 25-year-old frontman’s contract is too rich for Town.

Jewell said: “We obviously went for Billy in the summer and for whatever reason it didn’t happen, but at that price it’s definitely out of our price range.”

The Liverpudlian says he’s not aware quite how much he’ll have to spend as he looks to strengthen his squad in January — owner Marcus Evans and chief executive Simon Clegg tending to look at individual deals on their merits rather than having a set budget — but feels few Championship clubs will pay out that sort of cash for one player: “I don’t know what the pot is but I don’t think there are many Championship clubs who are going to pay £3 million.

“West Ham bought Kevin Nolan for £5 million but other than that I don’t know what the biggest transfer in the Championship was last summer, but certainly £3 million is well out of our league.”

In the summer, Southampton had a £3.25 million offer for Sharp accepted by Rovers but the player turned down the move. The Saints, Wigan, Leicester, Cardiff and Burnley are amongst the clubs said to be targeting the former Sheffield United man in January.

Jewell was unaware that Bristol City had made striker Nicky Maynard available for transfer with the 25-year-old out of contract in the summer and having turned down a new contract: “Maynard’s a good striker at this level, that’s proven. He might be one like Shane Long where a lot of Premier League clubs are interested.

“When you’re up against Premier League teams for a player, it’s very, very difficult for Championship teams to compete because of the money, let’s be honest. And players want to go to the Premiership.”

Meanwhile, former Blues boss Jim Magilton has been linked with the vacant manager’s job at Hartlepool United.

Magilton has reportedly missed out on the same role with Northern Ireland with Michael O’Neill, to whom the ex-Town skipper is currently assistant at Shamrock Rovers, apparently set to be named as Nigel Worthington’s successor.

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

homer_123 added 12:58 - Dec 23 Best news all Xmas. About time we stopped trying to buy ourselves out of this Division.
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stu_ward27 added 12:59 - Dec 23 A shame but strikers are not a priority!!! we desperately need a right-back, 1/2 centre backs and a goalkeeper and another winger possibly as well!!!
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Hamish1979 added 13:04 - Dec 23 Why was he unaware Nicky Maynard was up for sale? I knew that and i'm not a football manager.
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Marcus added 13:08 - Dec 23 @stu_ward27 - where can we get half a centre back? *gets coat*
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homer_123 added 13:12 - Dec 23 @MarcusSq - Damien Delaney qualifies for that surely?
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MattinLondon added 13:12 - Dec 23 I know that we need to keep to a budget and that it is not wise to spend big on expensive championship players. But Im concerned that Simon Clegg, a man with little football experience, has input on how much we will spend on wages etc. ME informs jewell of his budget, who in turn targets who he wants within that budget. Its Cleggs job to sell the club to each player and trust the managers choice of player. How can Clegg evaluate each player when he probably has little idea on players attributes. Or maybe Im just being naive

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footyblue added 13:13 - Dec 23 he means 1 or 2 MarcusSg lol and agree with what he says
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MattinLondon added 13:14 - Dec 23 I know that we need to keep to a budget and that it is not wise to spend big on expensive championship players. But Im concerned that Simon Clegg, a man with little football experience, has input on how much we will spend on wages etc. ME informs jewell of his budget, who in turn targets who he wants within that budget. Its Cleggs job to sell the club to each player and trust the managers choice of player. How can Clegg evaluate each player when he probably has little idea on players attributes. Or maybe Im just being naive

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Lanky added 13:17 - Dec 23 I'd rather we get in a decent goalie, centre back, right back, holding midfielder and a winger in anyway... than a striker (good, yes), when we already have Chopra and Scotland doing a good job. A striker isn't the priority, we're scoring enough goals.. ITS CONCEDING THEM THAT IS THE WORRY!
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tractorboy2434 added 13:20 - Dec 23 And slowly the truth about our finances starts to emerge, this is exactly as I had forecast, no big signings, just a couple of loans and a huge hole down the middle of the team in central defence and midfield, a bottom 6 finish beckons and with it a huge drop in ST renewals, they have brought this on themselves with poor management.
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howdonblue added 13:20 - Dec 23 CLEGG out ...
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howdonblue added 13:23 - Dec 23 Mattinlondon .. You are right these are the reasons why we are we're we are.. As I've said many times the sooner we have football people running the club the better. Happy Xmas coybb
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newboy added 13:38 - Dec 23 25 probably too young for a jewell side anyway come back in 5 years - maybe if we were not overpaying the pensioners we could afford a decent team
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Guthrum added 13:40 - Dec 23 Not an issue. We have strikers. We don't need to be spending that kind of money. There are bigger priorities: Goalkeeper; Defenders; maybe Midfielders; Younger, developmental players.
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lowtit added 13:44 - Dec 23 Don't need striker !!!! Hello! Earth to Clegg!
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Tractamatt added 13:51 - Dec 23 Not to fussed about this one as we have strikers and 3 million would go a long way to securing Scott Loach, a right back in the Cresswell mold and a youngish centre half to learn his trade of Sonko for a season.It might be different if we were top 2 in the league and looking at going up.Also what do people think about a cheeky loan bid for Man Utd's Machaeda (however it's spelt)

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WarkyWonderLand added 14:36 - Dec 23 Our goals for column is not the problem its goals against. Assuming Collins doesn't return we need a quick centre half and right back and some pace in midfield. We have enough forwards.
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Lightningboy added 14:44 - Dec 23 We do need a striker ...Chopra's head isn't right, Scotland's only managed 4, Ellington looks like a waste of space, JET's hardly set the division alight & Murphy's too hit and miss. ...make a bid for Jordan Rhodes!
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bluearmy4life added 14:48 - Dec 23 Need to strengthen are back 4 very urgently. This wasn't sorted out at the start of the season so it needs to be done sharply to avoid us being relegated.
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DiamondGezzer added 14:52 - Dec 23 MattinLondon :- Could be wrong, but didn't Paul Jewell say that he is involved to a greater extent in the negotiations these days ?
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Sindre94 added 14:54 - Dec 23 £3m for a very good but not brilliant CHAMPIONSHIP striker, not worth it.
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llewej_tuo added 14:56 - Dec 23 whats wrong with gettin a decent centre half first ? plonko jewell
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MattinLondon added 15:00 - Dec 23 DiamondGeezer Not sure on that one. Just hope whoever does it, does a good job in the transfer window. Also hope the pj has identified his targets. A month isn't that long to mess around
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MattinLondon added 15:01 - Dec 23 DiamondGeezer Not sure on that one. Just hope whoever does it, does a good job in the transfer window. Also hope the pj has identified his targets. A month isn't that long to mess around
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PauloJulio added 15:13 - Dec 23 PJ it was Matt Mills...Reading to Leicester City £5million
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