Bruce frustrated by domestic market
01/02/2006 - 10:05:13Birmingham manager Steve Bruce has warned clubs like his are being forced to recruit from abroad due to lower-league clubs demanding inflated transfer fees.
Bruce brought in Brentford FA Cup hero DJ Campbell for an initial fee of £500,000 (€733,000) on transfer deadline day.
But too often he feels that extortionate fees are being asked by Championship and League One and Two clubs for players unproven at the top level.
City tried to sign Cardiff striker Cameron Jerome and made a £2m (€2.9m) offer but were quoted a £3.5m (€5.1m) price tag.
In contrast Bruce has signed Slavia Prague defender Martin Latka on loan with a view to a permanent summer deal of £1.5m (€2.2m) – a player who has the pedigree of winning 27 under-21 caps for the Czech Republic.
He said: “Because of the inflated market situation, if we are not careful of what we face, clubs like ours will go abroad.
“We have agreed in the summer to pay £1.5m (€2.2m) for Martin Latka who has played 27 times for the Czech Under-21s, has played many games for his club, has played 10 times in Europe, and is just 21.
“Here now in this country, you ask in the lower divisions, about players like Jerome, and you do get put off by the size of the fee.
“That’s why we go down the foreign route because you can get better value for money.”
Meanwhile, Bruce regretted being unable to bring in Charlton midfielder Jason Euell before the transfer window closed at midnight.
Blues had agreed a fee of £1.5m (€2.2m) with Charlton a fortnight ago but Bruce had to divert his limited funds in other directions.
He said: “I have always liked Jason Euell and it is a shame we couldn’t do anything but we have had to cut our cloth accordingly in terms of transfer fees and wages.
“If I had done that deal, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything else. I don’t think the squad was fit and healthy enough to do that.”
<-- BACK TO STORY