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Sky Blues to snub Blues raid
Birmingham City, 10:54, June 5, 2009 ,
Coventry are reportedly set to snub Birmingham's offer of Gary McSheffrey and cash for highly-rated central defender Scott Dann.
Blues boss Alex McLeish is desperate to bolster his back line with some quality central defenders this summer ahead of their return to Premier League football next term. However, the bid to prise the 22-year-old England Under-21 international from the Ricoh Arena, appears to have failed.
The Sky Blues have put a £4million price tag on the head of their captain and were not tempted by a lower fee and the offer of former player McSheffrey. Therefore the Blues will have to put more money up front or face missing out on one of their transfer targets.
Meanwhile, Blues chairman David Sullivan has already admitted that they are chasing six centre-halves with Barcelona Sporting Club's Ecuador international Giovanny Espinoza likely to join.
He was quoted in the Birmingham Mail saying: "We hope that within two weeks to bring in another South American player. An established international who has played 80 times for his country and will put some backbone into our defence."
He added: "We hope to sign some younger players to go round them and build a mixture of old and new. A good balance between some seasoned pros and exciting young players who have got a bit to prove.
"We are chasing six centre-halves at the moment, if we get two of them then we will be pleased. The demand for very modest players is very scary.
"We've got to try and spend our money wisely and hope that some of the players turn out better than what they cost."