Nottingham Forest Table Derisory Offer For Whitts

Cardiff City midfielder Peter Whittingham was always in for a busy summer after his phenomenal goalscoring record last season and interest in the mercurial former Aston Villa man has been simmering all summer.

The situation with Whitts is somewhat unclear as his excellent form last year was preceeded by a shocker of a campaign in 2008/09 when most fans would have eagerly accepted a £200k bid for him. Last season saw the midfielder top the Championship scoring charts all season, and finish joint top with Bristol City striker Nicky Maynard. He is also out of contract next year and would br free to discuss contracts with other clubs from January meaning the Bluebirds could receive no fee at all in 12 months.

After last campaign, and amid interest from rivals, Whittingham is holding out for a bumper contract offer from Cardiff City. However, with our perilous financial situation yet to abate, we have been unable to tie him down and sort out agreeable terms.

Burnley saw a £1.75m bid rejected earlier in the season, but it is understood the Bluebirds has intimated a bid of £3m would be sufficient to tempt them. That in turn means that any bid in the region of £2.5m would be tempting and Whittingham himself could force the issue with a transfer request if necessary.

Fellow play-off failures Nottingham Forest have come back in with a bid on the back of their longstanding interest in Whittingham. However, the £1.5m offering appears to be aimed at unsettling the player and possibly trying to take advantage of our upcoming tax bill and outstanding player fees.

It would be incredibly galling to lose Whittingham for any less than £2.5m though player sales are looking increasingly likely in order to ease the current problems. Selling on the cheap is a short term solution only, and we will learn more about the future of our Malaysian investors in the coming weeks. If their interest in the club is long term, it does not seem sensible to allow key squad members to depart cheaply, however, the expent of our debt remains largely unknown and any serious offer must be given due consideration.

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