aberdeen face competition in striker bid
Dons in chase to get the Wright man
By Paul SMith
Published: 09/07/2008
Aberdeen have opened talks with Darlington as they target forward Tommy Wright. The 23-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at the English League 2 side following the arrival of former Clyde player Adam Proudlock.
That has alerted a string of clubs to Wright’s availability and the Dons are among those who have expressed an interest.
Aberdeen have not yet made a bid for the former Leicester City trainee and face competition for his services.
Cheltenham Town are understood to have already had an offer rejected by Darlington and at least one other English side has also had an approach rebuffed.
Aberdeen were prepared to pay about £50,000 for Southend United’s Irish forward Richie Foran and can afford to pay a fee for the right player.
Wright, a former England under-19 international, has a record of 17 goals in 46 league starts for Darlington and has caught the eye of Jimmy Calderwood and his scouting team.
Although currently recovering from a knee oper- ation, Wright is expected to be fit for the start of the season.
After beginning his career at the Walkers Stadium, Wright went on to play for Brentford and Blackpool on loan before a move to Barnsley.
At Oakwell he had a spell on loan at Walsall and then Darlington before completing a free transfer move to the Quakers in January last year.
While Calderwood attempts to strengthen his attacking options, the move for defender Tim Bakens has stalled.
The Press and Journal revealed yesterday that the Dutchman was unhappy with the initial contract offer from the Dons.
Calderwood has since confirmed the wage problem and said: “I had contact from Tim’s agent on Tuesday morning. We made him an offer and the agent made us a counter-offer. If the terms we have now been quoted are what he wants then he will not be coming"