Leicester City look to complete contract talks with Andy King
Leicester City chief executive Lee Hoos hopes to soon complete contract negotiations with midfielder Andy King.
Hoos has already struck deals for new contracts with Richie Wellens, Paul Gallagher and Matt Oakley recently, and said he hoped King will also pen a new improved deal.
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Andy King
However, he said there was no cause for concern as King had already signed a long contract but the new contract offer was a reward for the 22-year-old's performances this season.
The Wales international has scored 14 goals from midfield and become City's captain this term.
"I have one more (contract) on the go but I don't want to comment too much," said Hoos.
"What I will say is that Andy signed a new contract last year to take him up to 2014 anyway. He is a good young player and we want to reward the people who have helped get us in this position.
"That is one we hope to get over the line with soon as well."
Hoos said offering new contracts was all part of manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad-rebuilding strategy and said they have started to plan for the opening of the transfer window this summer.
Despite the strong financial backing of the club's Thai owners, Hoos said City would adopt a considered approach to transfers.
"It is what we can do to bring players in to enhance the squad," he said.
"The worst thing you can do is go out and buy players for the sake of it and end up with a disenfranchised squad, with people very disheartened because they can't get into the squad when they should be in.
"It is about spending it in the right places rather than spending out without rhyme or reason.
"It is not just about the players we are bringing in. Look at the contract extensions we have done with Gallagher, Wellens and Oakley recently.
"We also have so many up-and-coming players coming through.
"Jeffrey Schlupp is scoring goals while he is out on loan at Brentford, so that bodes well for us.
"So it is a mix of bringing in talent from outside and bringing through what we have got home grown. It looks promising.
"We are targeting top-quality players, whether they come from the Premier League or the SPL. Sol Bamba has been a great addition.
"It is about getting the right guy in at the right price."
Eddie Howe, boss of Burnley, who play City on Saturday, remains in close contact with Chelsea as he crosses his fingers for the quick return of loanee Jack Cork.
Cork, 21, is back at Stamford Bridge undergoing medical tests after suffering heart palpitations while with England.
He missed Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Ipswich and will only return to Turf Moor when it is considered safe to do so.
4 Comments
by Peter, Yorkshire
Thursday, April 07 2011, 9:05PM
“It was interesting to see Sven's comments that he dropped King for the Middlesbrough match because he has got too goal hungry and was not working enough for the team.
My impression was that his goals have dried up because he was having to do too much holding play to help out a beleaguered defence.
Therefore couldn't get up with the attackers quickly enough to support the goalscoring effort because he was cream crackered.
But then I do seem to see things differently on occasion”
by Peter, Ibstock
Thursday, April 07 2011, 4:45PM
“Wow, that is the best post i've ever read on here!! Top man...
You bring back memories for sure. How well we have come on...
Are you sure you are not Lee Hoos?
Just a couple of points...
1.
Taylor's biggest mistake was to get rid of Tony Cottee. He had at least 1 more good season in him.
2.
The contract that you give details on to offer King is virtually as I was trying to point out without the detail but fair do's that would be ok. Anyway, they will only tie him to a tasty contract so that they get a good price for him as long as someone values him high enough.
Anyway it's good to have someone so informed on here,”
by Chappy, nickchapman@hotmail.com
Thursday, April 07 2011, 3:08PM
“Peter, to be fair to MON, he wasn't bargaining on getting relegated, and I don't think he would have - he bought the right players to fit his system, and rarely did players opt to leave.
A few Factors affected our relegation,
1 - the Flotation fiasco
2 - Peter Taylor getting to top of the Prem at Xmas with MON's team - then deciding to tweak it a bit by getting rid of Neil Lennon and then Collymore leaving us reliant on 2 strikers who were bought to partner Collymore, then spending a mint trying to get the fans off his back whilst he was trying to hold down 2 jobs doubling as England Assistant.
We were very Naive where Taylor was concerned.
He was determined to prove a point with his own team rather than living in O'neills shadow, and he just threw money at it, and big money players want big money every week...
He renegotiated most of the contracts when he took over to stop MON poaching them.
He paid 3 million more than he originally offered for Akinbiyi.. which would be fine if it were in the 10's of millions but when it amounts to 150% on top of your original valuation - wolves took us for a ride and he paid it even though there were no other clubs in for Ade Akinbiyi's signature..
the Collapse of the ITV deal didn't do us any favours either..
Dennis Wise took a chunk..
as for some reason it's wrong to sack a member of staff for punching another member of staff and causing injury.
An astute board would have sacked wise under employment law and made it stick and sued wise for rendering Callum Davidson unfit to carry out his duties.. Thus affecting the performance of the team.
To put a clause in Andy Kings Contract saying Premiership Wages in the Prem only will just cause him to say,
"actually I will stay on the contract I am already on, and if an offer comes in I will listen.." he will be doing nothing wrong,
and you wouldn't blame him he is young and would walk into most teams.
What you really need in his contract is a STATUS and PERFORMANCE related clause,
I.e. if he plays first team football and we get promoted, he gets a bonus and a Wage increase based on our elevated status, which will drop if his status or the clubs status changes - if he is injured his pay has to be unaffected regarding performance under the PFA agreements and union rules, i.e. if he is not a regular and gets injured his wages stay the same and any club bonuses are the clubs decision. However if he is a regular and gets injured he convalesces and trains on full pay - provided he attends all rehabilitation at the recommendation of his and the clubs doctor.
Hope this clears things up.”
by Peter, Ibstock
Thursday, April 07 2011, 2:28PM
“Memo to LH.
Be sure to include a clause in Andy's and all future contracts that Prem wages only when in Prem.
So that 2012-13 on we don't suffer like we did when Martin O'Neill sorted his players Prem deals that nearly sunk us when we went down and some of the players were happy to take the money.
It's alright enjoying O'Neill's success and I enjoyed it as much as the next fan BUT...
There is the bump that comes after that lasts much longer than the good times.
Won't be long before it'll be better to follow you local non lge team for value and stability.”