Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin has made it clear that Will Ferry will not be sold this summer unless the club's valuation is met. The warning comes as Anderlecht join Celtic in showing interest in the Republic of Ireland international.
Anderlecht open talks
Record Sport reported over the weekend that Anderlecht had opened talks with United over Ferry. The winger, who has also been on Celtic's shortlist, recently turned down a lucrative move to Sigma Olomouc. His stock has risen further after a standout performance against Rangers on Friday night.
Goodwin acknowledged the ongoing speculation, saying: "There's a long time to go in the window and if we keep playing like we did the other night consistently then it won't only be Will I need to worry about! It's a good place to be in for the club."
Player trading model
The manager emphasized the importance of the club's player trading model, which relies on generating income through sales. "We have to generate a lot of our own income and player sales are going to be a huge part of that," he said.
Goodwin added: "We have to have contingencies in place because we know the Will Ferry thing is not going to go away. But teams showing an interest in Will is one thing, if their valuation isn't the same as ours then nothing will be happening. Right now I am planning for him to be here."
Ferry's mentality praised
Goodwin has no concerns about Ferry's mentality, pointing to how the player handled a rejected move to Vancouver Whitecaps earlier this year. "Will's mentality is not going to change, he's shown that already," the manager said.
"Last year there was a bit of interest in him in the January window and he handled that well. It's important for Will to keep performing because if he wants the interest to remain and he wants these big teams to be interested then he has to keep playing well."
New signing impresses
United handed a quickfire debut to Daniel Bennie on Friday night, with the winger coming off the bench in the draw with Rangers after joining from Queens Park Rangers. Goodwin was impressed with the impact he made.
"Daniel is a really good player, technically very good. He's very robust physically so I have no concerns in terms of how he settles into the Scottish game," Goodwin said. "He played a lot of games in the English Championship last year for QPR and he's another one that can play on either side of the pitch."
The manager noted Bennie's preference for the left-hand side and his passing ability, highlighted by an inch-perfect pass to Randall. "Daniel only trained with the group on Thursday morning for the first time and the impact he made even in the training session, that showed us all what he's capable of. So there was no hesitation getting him on there for the last 20 minutes of the game. I was delighted with his performance."
Strength in depth
Goodwin believes United now have strong attacking options, with competition for places high. "The situation I'm in now this year is there would have been a number of lads on the bench disappointed not to get on because they all want to be involved. So I feel at the moment we've got really good attacking options. I think we've got good cover in all areas."
United's summer signings will reach 11 when midfielder Abdoulaye Yoro completes his loan move to Tannadice later this week. Lachlan Rose has already made an instant impact among the new arrivals.
Focus on athleticism
Goodwin revealed that recent transfer windows have focused on bringing in pace and power. "For the last two summer windows the main emphasis has been on athleticism," he confirmed. "Clearly that's the way the modern game is going and it has been for a number of years."
He explained the demands of his style: "To play the way we want to play with a high aggressive press, getting after teams without the ball, but then having the capability to go forward at pace, it's really demanding - and you can't do that for 90 minutes."
