Sunderland-linked Marc Roberts appears likely to leave Barnsley – but Hull City’s young defender Harvey Rodgers could be an ideal replacement.
With prized asset Harry Maguire looking certain to move on at the end of the season, you get the feeling that Hull City may live to regret letting Harvey Rodgers’ deal run down, the Hull Daily Mail reports.
The York-born centre-back may not have made a single appearance in The Tigers first team but he is still one of the most exciting players to emerge in recent years from the club’s hardly prosperous academy system.
Yet, Rodgers is out of contract in the summer with his ten-year association with the club set to end. Though there are more than a few Championship clubs hoping to take advantage of the situation.
The Hull Daily Mail reports that Barnsley are in the running for his signature which, on reflection, makes perfect sense. After all, The Tykes have made plucking promising youngsters their trademark.
And with Rodgers proving his worth during an outstanding loan spell with Accrington Stanley in League Two, he could follow in the footsteps of fellow Barnsley defenders Andy Yiadom, Marc Roberts and Angus MacDonald in making his name lower down the English football pyramid.
Furthermore, their reported attempts to lure Rodgers to Oakwell in the summer could be excellently timed, especially with interest in Marc Roberts hotting up.
The Sun claims that Sunderland are willing to pay £5 million for one of the Championship’s most underrated centre-halves with manager David Moyes seemingly preparing the club for their inevitable drop into the second tier.
At 26, Roberts may be viewed as a long-term replacement for the ageing John O’Shea or a replacement for the previously wantaway Lamine Kone.
Yet, if Roberts is to leave Barnsley in the summer, it seems that they have already identified a ready-made replacement.
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