BRENDAN RODGERS has stepped up his bid for a new goalkeeper as he made an improved bid for Motherwell’s Trevor Carson.
Celtic, without the injured Craig Gordon for three months, have now upper their offer for the Fir Park No.1 to £375,000 and set a 2pm deadline today. Motherwell therefore have to decide whether or not to take the money. Will they hold out for their £750,000 valuation knowing that Celtic will not pay that and walk away this afternoon to pursue other targets?
Rodgers has also sounded out the possibility of landing Dundee’s Scott Bain by buying him out of his Hibs loan deal.
Arsenal’s Emiliano Martinez – who is currently on loan at Getafe – is another option that has been mentioned and yesterday we reported that enquiries had been made as to the availability of Liverpool reserve keeper Adam Bogdan and also England goalkeeper Joe Hart who is currently on the bench in the West Ham games.
Davie Moyes however dismissed the notion that West Ham would allow the player, who is on loan from Manchester City, to leave in this window.
Dutch veteran Dorus de Vries played in the 3-1 win over Hearts at Parkhead last night.
The Irishman is set to be a busy man with the champions looking to land Dundee central defender Jack Hendry after making a £1million move last night.
Motherwell are determined to hold out for more than £500,000 for Carson – with his cash-strapped former club Hartlepool United set to bank a 40 per cent sell-on clause.
The shotstopper cost a bargain £10,000 when he arrived in the summer.
Rodgers said: “We want to bring in another goalkeeper, but there have been lots of names fired at us.
“We WILL have one in by end of play.
“I could sit here all day and go through the names, but he (Bain) is one of many mentioned. We want a goalkeeper who fits our idea of how we play. That’s important.
“Whoever comes in has to be able to play with his feet and build the game, but, most importantly, make saves.
“Ideally, we’ll have a goalkeeper and one other.”
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