Bristol Rovers manager Graham Coughlan has confirmed the club are interested in UCD defender Liam Scales, but denies a bid has been made or that the player is close to a move, as reported by the Bristol Post.
It was widely reported that Scales, who is also interesting Manchester City, was due to reject the Premier League champions and join the Gas in League One.
Much of the speculation is coming out of Ireland and whilst Coughlan admits interest, he’s keen to set the record straight about the current situation.
“There seems to be more talk in Ireland than anywhere else,” he said.
“Liam Scales is a very good player, I’ll tell it how it is because there have been some inaccurate reports. He’s a player we’ve looked at, he’s a player I like and I’d like to bring to the football club, being able to do that might be different.
“We’ve not actually gone anywhere near some of the reports, we’re not that far advanced. He’s one of many, but Liam Scales is someone I’ve looked at, I do have an interest in and quite like.”
Rovers have currently added five players to their squad for the upcoming season, with Tom Davies and Mark Little amongst the new faces at the Memorial Ground.
20-year-old Scales has played 21 times for UCD (University College Dublin) this season, scoring once.
Our View
Papers will always speculate. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t be here feeding the fire, would we? It’s part and parcel of the summer excitement and these denials are less common than the stories themselves.
Managers don’t usually talk targets so openly, so fair play to Coughlan for filling supporters in.
Liam Scales looks to be an attractive prospect but at the moment it seems a bid is not forthcoming. You have to wonder if there is an agent at play here, fuelling the rumours.
