"Big G" linked with Sunderland

By Nathan Jackson
February 9 2005

Imps defender Gareth McAuley is being strongly linked with a move to Championship side Sunderland. This is however a story from the Lincolnshire Echo who reported that Keith has been given a transfer budget of 6 figures which has been "rubbished" by the club.

The Echo reports that McAuley, signed from Coleraine during the summer has been linked to Mick McCarthy's Championship side. McCarthy was also linked with a move for Imps midfielder, Peter Gain during the early stages of winter before the midfielder became injured and was apparantly at Sincil Bank last Saturday to watch City's 3-0 win over Oxford. I say apparantly because the Echo has been known to print stories that are very far from the truth, the most recent being the other day when they reported that Keith has been given a 6 figure transfer budget for next season, a story that has since been rubbished by everyone at the club.

"There is nothing concrete at this stage, but every player - especially at this level - has a price," admitted Bradley. But just as in the case of Paul Mayo the move has to be right for the player and the club, we certainly don't want to jeopardise our bid for promotion."

Paul Mayo was the last player to leave the Imps for a transfer fee just under a year ago when he moved to Watford for a reported £105,000. McCarthy does have a history of buying lower league players and has already brought Liam Lawrence (Mansfield), Dean Whitehead (Oxford) and Danny Collins (Chester). McAuley would be a good purchase and is currently rated as one of the best defender in League 2 already catching the eye of Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers as well as being close to a call up to Northern Ireland's National team, a move that was only stopped because the game Lawrie Sanchez was going to watch was called off.