Leeds United placed a £5 million price tag on their manager George Graham yesterday but it is unlikely to prevent Tottenham Hotspur making a formal approach for his services.
The Yorkshire club also said they would refuse Spurs permission to speak to Graham if that approach were made. But this is unlikely to frighten off the London club, who are seeking to replace Christian Gross, who was sacked on Saturday.
Leeds are well enough versed in the ways of modern football to know that, if Graham wants to leave, there is little the club can do about it, whether they refuse permission or not. If Graham did want to leave, Leeds would probably bow to the inevitable and negotiate a sensible compensation package to clear the decks for a new manager.
Although Leeds confirmed that no official approach has been made, they are desperate to keep a man who has significantly improved the team's performance in the two years since he took over from Howard Wilkinson.
Despite operating on a tight budget Graham led the team to UEFA Cup qualification last season, at the same time rebuilding his own reputation after the bung scandal at Arsenal which brought him a one-year ban from the game.
The premise for Leeds's £5 million compensation assessment is based on the contract Graham signed in December, which takes him to 2001 on a salary of £1 million a year. That agreement, say Leeds, includes a clause stating that any club wishing to speak to Graham must pay £1 million and, if they land their man, must pay up Graham's contract and an extra £1 million in compensation.
The Leeds chairman Peter Risdale added another barrier when he said: "I have said consistently that George Graham is under contract to us. The board's reaction if anyone came in for him would be to refuse them permission to talk to him."
Although it is understood Graham would like a move back to London, he played down the speculation yesterday. "Every time a job comes up it seems my name is linked with it," he said. "I am not giving these stories credibility by commenting on them."
However, Graham knows it would be improper for him to comment before a formal approach is made. Only then could he reveal to the Leeds board any interest he might have in the Spurs job.
If a manager wants to leave a club, he can in theory walk out. The club can try to enforce his contract through the courts but that involves a long, costly and messy process. Even if the club wins, there is little benefit in an unmotivated and disenchanted manager. A club will normally accept its losing hand.
If he does end up leaving, Leeds are likely to turn to Kenny Dalglish. The board is known to admire the talents of the former Liverpool and Newcastle manager and would be prepared to give him the time, denied him by the directors at St James' Park, to build a championship-challenging team.
Tony Adams, launching his book Addicted yesterday, gave a surprise vote of confidence to Tottenham yesterday over their supposed interest in Graham. "If he got the Tottenham job I am sure he would do fantastically well there, like he did at Arsenal and like he is doing at Leeds," said Adams. "I respect any good player or manager and he would be a good choice for Spurs."
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough are expected to announce within the next 24 hours that they are willing to sell Paul Merson, possibly to Spurs.
Merson, a reformed alcoholic and compulsive gambler, believes that he runs the risk of lapsing back into bad habits if he extends his brief relationship with Middlesbrough. "I asked to get away three times last season but it was all hushed up," he said. "I believe it is time to go. It is not a question of me wanting to go back down south as I have just bought a pounds £400,000 house in Middlesbrough. But I have to sort things out."
Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson yesterday opened preliminary negotiations with the Aston Villa counterpart John Gregory, who indicated last Friday that he would be willing to pay £5 million to buy Merson as a replacement for Dwight Yorke. Tottenham, meanwhile, have let it be known that they would like to return Merson to the capital in a deal which could see the striker Chris Armstrong leave White Hart Lane for the Riverside Stadium.
Robson admitted yesterday that he needed to lower the curtain on English football's latest unsavoury transfer saga. "I have read all the stories over the weekend and obviously things needed to be sorted out," he said. "We have decided that we must meet face-to-face to discuss his situation at this club."
Walter Smith the Everton manager, is hoping to persuade Italian striker Igor Protti to move to Goodison Park from Lazio on loan. 30-year-old Protti has been frozen out at Lazio since the arrival of £19 million Christian Vieri and £12 million Marcelo Salas and if he agrees to the move he could make his debut against Leeds on Saturday.
Paul Ince yesterday attempted to defend his conduct during England's European Championship defeat in Sweden which led to his dismissal and accusations that he then shouted obscenities at the referee and made a V-sign as he left the pitch.
The Liverpool captain, sent off by Pierluigi Collina for two bookable offences, said: "People have been trying to make something out of it all. They are trying to wind things up. I wasn't doing anything to the crowd and I don't care a monkey's what it looked like on TV. I know what I did and didn't do."
