Steve Bruce claims there has been no interest from any club in signing Aston Villa striker Ross McCormack.
Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce has told talkSPORT that he hasn’t heard of any interest in outcast striker Ross McCormack as the January transfer window enters its final day.
McCormack, 30, was one of Villa’s big-money summer signings geared towards winning promotion back to the Premier League, with Villa forking out £12million to land him from Fulham (BBC Sport).
The Scot was viewed as a proven Championship goalscorer who could help Villa in the second tier, as he had hit 42 goals in 100 games for Fulham, as well as 58 goals in 158 games for previous club Leeds United.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce
However, McCormack has struggled to live up to his price tag with Villa, as he has so far scored just three goals and notched a solitary assist in 22 appearances, giving Villa poor value for money so far.
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Not only is McCormack struggling on the pitch, but his fortunes off it aren’t much better either. McCormack was completely left out of the side to take on Preston North End earlier this month, as he had missed training due to the electric gates at his house being broken, much to the anger of manager Steve Bruce (The Mirror).
Aston Villa’s Ross McCormack reacts
Some believed that McCormack would be sold during this month’s transfer window as a result of his fallout with Bruce, but today is the final day of the January window, and there has been no movement for McCormack.
With deadline day upon us, Villa boss Bruce has offered an update to talkSPORT, stating that he hasn’t heard of any interest in McCormack, with no phone calls at all – but did acknowledge that he could still be at the club by Wednesday.
Bruce added that he hasn’t even heard from McCormack since the gate incident, stating that it’s up to the striker to apologise and make a last-ditch attempt to save his Villa career before it ever really began.
“I haven’t heard anything,” said Bruce. “It’s up to Ross to apologise and admit he’s done something wrong. He has to apologise to me and the team. If that happens we will get on with it. Up until that happens, the ball is in his court. I’ve had no phone calls from him so unless that changes in the 24 hours….There’s been no reaction from him so far.”
“My speaking about him publicly was measured, I knew it was coming. The press had the story, so I will tell the truth. It was no calculated gamble. I had to have my version out there. He could still be here on Wednesday. If he apologises, then I’ll look at it and see on merit then. But until he admits his behaviour was unacceptable then the situation will stay the same. He’s still with the 23s, although I call it the reserves,” he added.
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