Doncaster make late attempt to keep hold of Sharp

DONCASTER Rovers chairman John Ryan has pleaded with Billy Sharp to stay at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Sharp is currently in talks with Leicester City but has now been offered a new two-and-a-half year deal by Rovers.

He is already the highest paid player in the club’s history – bagging over £10,000 a week since his arrival in a £1.1m move from Sheffield United two summers ago – and has expressed a desire to play in the Premier League.

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With Rovers in a desperate scrap for Championship survival, however, Ryan wants Sharp to delay his departure until the summer.

His existing deal still has another 18 months to go but Ryan has honoured a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ by allowing Sharp to speak with the Foxes.

A number of other clubs are also waiting in the wings including Southampton and Middlesbrough and Premier League clubs Wigan Athletic, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke and Fulham.

As yet, only Leicester have put an offer on the table, believed to be worth around £2m, but Southampton offered £3m last summer.

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Ryan admits that Rovers will have a far better chance of avoiding the drop if Sharp can be persuaded to delay his departure.

The 25-year-old has scored 40 goals in 85 league starts for Rovers and a total of 120 goals in 261 games over the last seven seasons.

Significantly, Ryan also feels it will not harm Sharp’s marketability to stay.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post last night, Ryan said: “We are in no way resigned to losing Billy in this transfer window and we have never wanted him to leave.

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“There has been a lot of conjecture surrounding interest from other clubs but no one, apart from Leicester, has come in so far.

“A player with Billy’s goalscoring record should be playing in the Premier League because arguably he is the best striker in terms of goals per chances in the country.

“If a Premier League club comes in, I accept we might struggle to keep him,” Ryan added. “But if not, he might decide that his career is better served by staying here for now. He loves playing for this club and everyone here loves him. He is hero-worshipped by our supporters and he might not get that if he goes somewhere else.

“We all know that he will go at some stage but if he scores the goals that take us up the league he could have even more options this summer.

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“I don’t think he is totally motivated by money like a lot of players. If money was his main concern, he would have joined Burnley instead of us two summers ago.”

Both Ryan and vice chairman Dick Watson spoke to Sharp before the striker sat down yesterday for talks with manager Dean Saunders.

The shift in attitude will help stifle complaints from a section of supporters who feel more could be done to keep Sharp at the club.

It also echoes the stance taken by Yorkshire neighbours Huddersfield Town in relation to their star striker Jordan Rhodes.

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Although a League One club, Town are in a far stronger position financially than Rovers and chairman Dean Hoyle has told Rhodes to stay until the end of the season.

At that point, Town will know if they have won promotion and, if not, will allow the Scottish international to further his career elsewhere.

Stressing the importance of Sharp to his side, Rovers manager Saunders said: “We just feel we can’t afford to lose a player of Billy’s quality without a fight. He’s become a legend during his time at Doncaster and I want to keep him to spearhead a team aimed at pushing for the top six next season.

“Since I came here we’ve taken 21 points from 18 games and, if we carry on like that, we will win the fight to stay in the Championship.

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“We know there is more work to be done but we are starting to get players fit again and we are aiming for consistency from now on. I just hope the fans will respond and get behind us to help the club push up the table.”

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post last month, Sharp admitted that he was looking for a January move but also stressed that he was waiting for a top-flight club.

“I am glad the speculation is there – if it wasn’t, it would mean I wasn’t scoring goals,” Sharp said. “There will be more speculation but I’m going to give it 110 per cent for Doncaster until I am told otherwise. Hopefully, I will keep scoring goals and a Premiership team will come in.”

Sharp was rested for last weekend’s FA Cup third round defeat by Notts County to avoid becoming cup-tied but is fully expected to play against Cardiff City this weekend.

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Rovers, meanwhile, are still sweating over the future of Senegalese international striker El Hadji-Diouf who has delayed signing an extension to his current short term deal.

It is nearly three weeks since Rovers announced that Diouf was staying for another 18 months but there is on-going interest in the former Liverpool and Rangers striker from LA Galaxy and meg-rich Russian outfit Anzhi.

The club have now invested in two other new strikers – Mali international and Mamadou Bagayoko and Burkina Faso international Habib Bamogo – but both players will need time to adjust to the demands of the English game.