Celtic and Rangers have each reportedly had bids rejected for Exeter Metropolis’s rising defensive star Alfie Pond. The teenager made his senior debut for the League One aspect final season, that includes for towards Chelsea’s U23s within the Papa Johns EFL Trophy and towards Cheltenham City in the identical competitors.
Grecians supervisor Matt Taylor revealed after a 1-0 pre-season pleasant defeat to Torquay United, for which he was an unused substitute, on the weekend that the membership had turned down “a few actually low affords from golf equipment north of the border” for the enormous 18-year-old stopper.
Devon Dwell report that “Rangers and Celtic the golf equipment thought to have made affords effectively in need of the Grecians’ valuation”. Pond got here by means of the ranks at St James’ Park however hasn’t featured a lot in pre-season resulting from intense hypothesis over his future with only a 12 months left on his deal. Boss Taylor added: “We now have wished to play him extra however he has not been in the suitable headspace.
“We now have turned down a few actually low affords from golf equipment north of the border in relation to his contract and that's not resolving itself anytime quickly. We now have a incredible mortgage alternative on the desk however the participant and agent are turning that down in the mean time.
“It's past me why gamers don’t wish to play soccer and swiftly they sit on the bench and await the contract to expire based mostly on recommendation they get elsewhere. It doesn’t assist the membership or the participant or shopping for membership. We would like our younger gamers to play as a lot however for no matter purpose that state of affairs hasn’t materialised into something constructive.”
Rangers and Celtic have each tried to snap up prime English younger expertise the place they will benefit from the cross-border rule. This summer season alone the Ibrox aspect snapped up Zak Lovelace from English Championship aspect Millwall and the Hoops signed Joey Dawson from Scunthorpe United two years in the past.
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