Reports claim Birmingham turn down £6m Southampton bid for Jack Butland

11:30pm Wednesday 27th June 2012 in Saints News

Jack Butland Jack Butland

Birmingham have turned down a £6m bid from Saints for goalkeeper Jack Butland, according to reports.

The 19-year-old, who was a part of England's squad at Euro 2012, is in high demand this summer.

Birmingham's acting chairman Peter Pannu said this week that the Championship club would only sell their young keeper for "eye-popping" money.

Saints appear to have now tested that resolve, but without success.

Butland is yet to play for the Blues, having made 24 appearances on loan at League Two side Cheltenham last season.

However, new manager Lee Clark expects him to become the replacement for Ben Foster, who is expected to leave St Andrew's for West Brom.

Clark said: "Jack wants to come in and be number one and that's what we see him as."

He added: "He's got a huge part to play in the future of this club."

Comments(30)

Clemster says...
12:09am Thu 28 Jun 12

Wow. Serious money.

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saintshorse101 says...
12:25am Thu 28 Jun 12

I dont feel that a player who has only played 24games at league 2 level can be worth £6 mill+. he may have potential but is it worth paying that much to find out. at £2-3 mill it might pay to take a punt but if brum think they can hold us to ransom cause we have got money then think again, NC will not allow our club bankrolling another to save them from admin! if brum feel they can get that price elsewhere then good luck to them. I have to wonder though if the price has got anything to do with Lee Clark being manager now and the fact that we beat his huddersfield team to auto promotion from L1, I remember at the time he was most upset and said his team were the better and deserved to go up! is he still bitter towards us?
WE cant pay that amount for an unproven player and so the search for a first choice/backup keeper must go on.

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irjblue says...
12:40am Thu 28 Jun 12

Now, don't get me wrong here, but we do not have to sell. especially when its a bright young talent contracted to bcfc till 2015. he will be at a big club, the saints aren't one. sorry. if mufc, mcfc, cfc or thfc come in with 6mil. we will gladly let the lad progress. until then he's ours. thanks

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andysaints007 says...
1:23am Thu 28 Jun 12

irjblue wrote:
Now, don't get me wrong here, but we do not have to sell. especially when its a bright young talent contracted to bcfc till 2015. he will be at a big club, the saints aren't one. sorry. if mufc, mcfc, cfc or thfc come in with 6mil. we will gladly let the lad progress. until then he's ours. thanks
'We do not have to sell' !!! Thats not what your owner was saying on Sky Sports today !!

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Mowyjoe says...
2:26am Thu 28 Jun 12

£6million!?
He who dares wins!

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Arnold J Rimmer says...
3:05am Thu 28 Jun 12

Time to move on. Lets put in a bid for Pompeys no. 1 keeper.

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montecristosaint says...
3:50am Thu 28 Jun 12

I dont believe this. There has only been one report , from Clubcall, and god knows where they got their information from.
Looks to me as a try on from a club screaming for dosh..if a bid came in for £6m theyd bite our hand off.

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WobblyCat says...
5:40am Thu 28 Jun 12

Can someone explain how he got in the euro squad? I'm sure he's very promising but he's only played at league 2 level. His inclusion for england has baffled me, it would be like picking Luke Shaw. £6 million is insane!

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Clemster says...
5:57am Thu 28 Jun 12

I'd be amazed if after a few hours of having come into the job Lee Clark had any say about whether Butland stays or leaves given the amount of money that we are talking about.

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Mongoose says...
6:38am Thu 28 Jun 12

All a load of old tosh but a great story But I agree with Wobby Cat - Super Kel shuld have gone

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arm chair fan says...
8:01am Thu 28 Jun 12

how often does the third choice keeper play? he was taken for the experiance . next time he may be second choice !!!! imo if the offer had been 6m it would be excepted. bcfc will sell to highest bidder sooner rather than later .

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mbetts says...
8:19am Thu 28 Jun 12

Never mind, he's unproven and £6m is top doller for any 19 year old, let Man City or whoever take their chance on him, they can afford the risk more than us, but I personally think he's made a silly career decision if he wants to be a City bench warmer coz Harte looks like he may be no.1 for a few years to come

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Hobson82 says...
8:24am Thu 28 Jun 12

WobblyCat wrote:
Can someone explain how he got in the euro squad? I'm sure he's very promising but he's only played at league 2 level. His inclusion for england has baffled me, it would be like picking Luke Shaw. £6 million is insane!
Roy probably picked him because he felt it would be good experience for him to be involved. And lets face it how often does the third choice keeper actually get to play in a major tournament. I personally thought it was a good move picking him.

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bobbystokeslovechild says...
8:26am Thu 28 Jun 12

saintshorse101 wrote:
I dont feel that a player who has only played 24games at league 2 level can be worth £6 mill+. he may have potential but is it worth paying that much to find out. at £2-3 mill it might pay to take a punt but if brum think they can hold us to ransom cause we have got money then think again, NC will not allow our club bankrolling another to save them from admin! if brum feel they can get that price elsewhere then good luck to them. I have to wonder though if the price has got anything to do with Lee Clark being manager now and the fact that we beat his huddersfield team to auto promotion from L1, I remember at the time he was most upset and said his team were the better and deserved to go up! is he still bitter towards us?
WE cant pay that amount for an unproven player and so the search for a first choice/backup keeper must go on.
eh! oxlade-chamberlain

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Red n White says...
8:49am Thu 28 Jun 12

irjblue wrote:
Now, don't get me wrong here, but we do not have to sell. especially when its a bright young talent contracted to bcfc till 2015. he will be at a big club, the saints aren't one. sorry. if mufc, mcfc, cfc or thfc come in with 6mil. we will gladly let the lad progress. until then he's ours. thanks
Can't see how he'd progress any better at these lubs then he will at Saints, who have a proven record of bringing youngsters into the first team. At Man Utd he would be behind De Gea for many years, at Man City he'll be behind Hart for many years, at Chelsea he'd be behind Cech then Courtois for many years. The only likely one of those would be Tottenham who could offer him first team football within 2-3 years. At Southampton he would be first choice within 2-3 years as Davis is getting older.

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RedArmy1 says...
8:53am Thu 28 Jun 12

Lee Clark has come in and wants to impress - so they want eye popping money or keep hold of their players ...

Let them ... let them teeter towards administration ... they have no funds to improve so they will be stuck where they are in the league ... same old lee clark ... with the blues not getting promoted and the keeper sitting on the sidelines or being loaned out.

Time to move on ... the funny thing about Lee when he took over was he talked about the passionate fans at birmingham. We saw that alright when we went up their last season .... LOL .. what a joke !!

We do need to bolster our goalkeeping squad - but We should not be held to ransom.

f*ck brum - the search goes on.

RED AND WHITE. COYR.

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Alicesdad says...
9:02am Thu 28 Jun 12

Assuming this is true then NC has shown willingness to spend. This is a very good sign indeed and the sum being quoted shows we are flashing some real cash.

If a club turns us down then we will find out if the other clubs are really in the hunt or not. We may not get this keeper but we will get one eventually so Im not worried.

In the meantime this is ending out a message, Saints are back, and ready to invest.

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st.athan saint says...
9:07am Thu 28 Jun 12

Stupid money for a goalkeeper let alone an unproven one. Can't understand why no interest in Tom Heaton. Whenever I've seen him he's looked a good keeper (and probably available for half the money)

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Jesus_02 says...
9:14am Thu 28 Jun 12

is saints are willing to spend 6m on a young promising keeper then we will get one this guy or not.

Brum obviously don't want to sell at all and that's their prerogative.

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circa 66 saint says...
9:15am Thu 28 Jun 12

i'm in birmingham tomorrow on business if N.A. and N.C. want to put £3m in the back of my van i'll wave the cash under their noses, he ain't worth any more and to be honest at £3m that's a punt.

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franiow says...
9:26am Thu 28 Jun 12

This is top money (if true) for a promising but unproven player. There was talk that we wanted to pay in instalments (i.e. for appearances etc) and that may be what is unacceptable.
Surely Birmingham cannot seriously be saying he will be their number one keeper. Make or break him. Time for us to move on.

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st.athan saint says...
9:30am Thu 28 Jun 12

st.athan saint wrote:
Stupid money for a goalkeeper let alone an unproven one. Can't understand why no interest in Tom Heaton. Whenever I've seen him he's looked a good keeper (and probably available for half the money)
hmm presume he would cost nothing actually cos CCFC wanted him to sign but he declined and is a fee agent.

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GHamilton says...
9:39am Thu 28 Jun 12

Hope the we can get Buttner from Vitesse; this would give us some real clout down the left flank, looks the real deal, but dont want to get into a bidding war with QPR. I aree with posts above, 6m for 19year old goalkeeper is way too much to pay, sure NC and NA will know this!

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Red n White says...
9:41am Thu 28 Jun 12

st.athan saint wrote:
st.athan saint wrote: Stupid money for a goalkeeper let alone an unproven one. Can't understand why no interest in Tom Heaton. Whenever I've seen him he's looked a good keeper (and probably available for half the money)
hmm presume he would cost nothing actually cos CCFC wanted him to sign but he declined and is a fee agent.
Think he left because he wanted first team football, which I don't think he'd get here.

I wouldn't mind Fraser Forster being signed for about £2-3 million

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circa 66 saint says...
9:45am Thu 28 Jun 12

st.athan saint wrote:
st.athan saint wrote:
Stupid money for a goalkeeper let alone an unproven one. Can't understand why no interest in Tom Heaton. Whenever I've seen him he's looked a good keeper (and probably available for half the money)
hmm presume he would cost nothing actually cos CCFC wanted him to sign but he declined and is a fee agent.
are you talking to yourself again

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saintshorse101 says...
10:01am Thu 28 Jun 12

bobbystokeslovechild wrote:
saintshorse101 wrote: I dont feel that a player who has only played 24games at league 2 level can be worth £6 mill+. he may have potential but is it worth paying that much to find out. at £2-3 mill it might pay to take a punt but if brum think they can hold us to ransom cause we have got money then think again, NC will not allow our club bankrolling another to save them from admin! if brum feel they can get that price elsewhere then good luck to them. I have to wonder though if the price has got anything to do with Lee Clark being manager now and the fact that we beat his huddersfield team to auto promotion from L1, I remember at the time he was most upset and said his team were the better and deserved to go up! is he still bitter towards us? WE cant pay that amount for an unproven player and so the search for a first choice/backup keeper must go on.
eh! oxlade-chamberlain
you cant compare the ox to butland, one is an attacking winger who was a regular in a L1 team scoring 9 goals in 36 games and gaining promotion to the championship and was voted into the L1 team of the year whilst the other butland has played 24 games in L2 in a team who finished 6th conceding 26 goals. he may well be the next Peter Shilton or he may be the next Rob Green (not quite up to it), but for £6mill+ let another team take a punt.

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zummerzet saint says...
10:11am Thu 28 Jun 12

I'm sorry but 6 mil for a keeper who's not played for the first team?? On yer bike Brum!!

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circa 66 saint says...
10:22am Thu 28 Jun 12

big city small club very likely to do a pompey and they know it. they are desperate for cash to stay afloat,

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Vordhosbn says...
11:40am Thu 28 Jun 12

I don't really have a problem with the fee, although it's clearly quite a lot for a young keeper with limited experience. But if we are prepared to offer that, why have we not gone after Ben Foster? Or have we? I can't imagine he's being sold for much more than 6m, and I think we could tempt him into joining us rather than WBA...

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Mush On The Beach says...
11:51am Thu 28 Jun 12

Personally, I’m a bit torn on this one, I’m all for youth in the team with potential but there has to be a balance. The key position I feel we have to have instant replacement experience is between the sticks. Does the kid have enough to take over now if Kelvin took a long term injury? You don’t get second chances at this level

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