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Barnsley: Tykes admit fears growing over future of winger Jamal
Published Date: 25 January 2009
By Lee Sobot
In demand winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce has been called up to the Jamaican national side and manager Simon Davey admits the day may come where the talented 25-year-old may have to leave.
The Lambeth-born star has been the subject of a number of seven-figure bids during the January transfer window and has been selected by the Reggae Boyz to face Nigeria on February 11.
Campbell-Ryce, pictured below, last represented his national side when Jamaica were hammered 6-0 by England back in June 2006 but now looks set to add to his 12 international caps. (nat true)
Davey knows Campbell-Ryce's price is growing but hopes the Jamaican star will be staying at Oakwell.
However, the Barnsley boss knows the way the football world works and cannot rule out cashing in on one of their stars.
"I hope Jamal will be with us for a long, long time, I don't want to sell him," said Davey.
"But football is a business and usually most players have a price, sometimes it's hard to hold on to players. You look at Kaka and maybe there's a price for him to go with Manchester City offering so much, or maybe Ronaldo would leave Manchester United for the right price?
"Who knows whether there's a right price for Jamal to leave Barnsley?
"But I want to keep him. We've had two significant bids and we've turned them both down, we've not heard anything else since then.
"I'm not going to name those two clubs, but we bought Jamal for £175,000 and the fact there's been seven-figure bids is testament to the club and how he's applied himself over the last year.
"I always want to be fair to my players, if they want to play at a higher level I wouldn't want to get in the way.
"There's a recession everywhere, so when offers come in you do have a look at them. I've always said I'd do that for all my players.
"When you get bids of this size, it's a big temptation. Sometimes you have to deal with losing players. I hope he stays but I have to be realistic and there's a chance he may leave."
Meanwhile, skipper Steve Foster is targeting a return in three weeks' time following this week's hernia operation.
Foster had been playing through the pain barrier but had to finally concede defeat and went under the knife in Leicester this week.
Foster, 28, is now keeping his fingers crossed for as speedy a recovery as possible.
"I've had a few knee operations before and also had cruciate ligament damage, but this isn't too serious an operation," said Foster.
"Hopefully I'll be back within three weeks, but it's difficult to put a length of time on something like this.
"The specialist told me the recovering time varies from individual to individual, but hopefully I could be back training after a week or so.
"I'm going to try and get through this as quickly as I can because I hate missing any game."
Ends
Published Date: 25 January 2009
By Lee Sobot
In demand winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce has been called up to the Jamaican national side and manager Simon Davey admits the day may come where the talented 25-year-old may have to leave.
The Lambeth-born star has been the subject of a number of seven-figure bids during the January transfer window and has been selected by the Reggae Boyz to face Nigeria on February 11.
Campbell-Ryce, pictured below, last represented his national side when Jamaica were hammered 6-0 by England back in June 2006 but now looks set to add to his 12 international caps. (nat true)
Davey knows Campbell-Ryce's price is growing but hopes the Jamaican star will be staying at Oakwell.
However, the Barnsley boss knows the way the football world works and cannot rule out cashing in on one of their stars.
"I hope Jamal will be with us for a long, long time, I don't want to sell him," said Davey.
"But football is a business and usually most players have a price, sometimes it's hard to hold on to players. You look at Kaka and maybe there's a price for him to go with Manchester City offering so much, or maybe Ronaldo would leave Manchester United for the right price?
"Who knows whether there's a right price for Jamal to leave Barnsley?
"But I want to keep him. We've had two significant bids and we've turned them both down, we've not heard anything else since then.
"I'm not going to name those two clubs, but we bought Jamal for £175,000 and the fact there's been seven-figure bids is testament to the club and how he's applied himself over the last year.
"I always want to be fair to my players, if they want to play at a higher level I wouldn't want to get in the way.
"There's a recession everywhere, so when offers come in you do have a look at them. I've always said I'd do that for all my players.
"When you get bids of this size, it's a big temptation. Sometimes you have to deal with losing players. I hope he stays but I have to be realistic and there's a chance he may leave."
Meanwhile, skipper Steve Foster is targeting a return in three weeks' time following this week's hernia operation.
Foster had been playing through the pain barrier but had to finally concede defeat and went under the knife in Leicester this week.
Foster, 28, is now keeping his fingers crossed for as speedy a recovery as possible.
"I've had a few knee operations before and also had cruciate ligament damage, but this isn't too serious an operation," said Foster.
"Hopefully I'll be back within three weeks, but it's difficult to put a length of time on something like this.
"The specialist told me the recovering time varies from individual to individual, but hopefully I could be back training after a week or so.
"I'm going to try and get through this as quickly as I can because I hate missing any game."
Ends
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