Sunderland target George Dobson has not travelled with the Saddlers squad for their pre-season trip to Poland and manager Darrell Clarke has explained why.
Local journalist Joseph Masi has tweeted a quote from Clarke in which he criticises agents for giving his players bad advice ‘when clubs come knocking.’
https://twitter.com/JosephMasi_Star/status/1150677795128991749?s=20
The Walsall boss also left Striker Morgan Ferrier at home with speculation continuing over the twenty-four-year old’s future.
Clarke recently revealed the club had received bids for both players which were below the Saddlers valuation and with their mind not right the pair have been left at home to train with the youth team while the first team squad journey to Poland.
The Saddlers boss did praise the attitude of his want-away duo but hinted he felt their futures would be better served by staying at Walsall and blamed agents for unsettling his players and giving bad advice rather than the right advice.
Clarke also hinted he would review the futures of both players when he returns from Poland, telling the Express and Star: ‘We want players that want to play for Walsall – they might have changed their opinion when I get back and will be keen to be part of this group.’
Dobson made forty-four outings for the Saddlers in 2019/20 with the twenty-one-year-old midfielder being one of the few bright spots in a disappointing campaign which saw Walsall relegated from League One.
It’s been widely reported the bid for the player came in from Sunderland, but it is unclear who bid for Ferrier.
Our View
It will come as no surprise a manager feels some agents do not have the best interest of their clients at heart.
In the case of Dobson, he does have a point, and many Walsall fans agree he would be better off staying in League Two with Walsall than potentially warming in the bench in League One with Sunderland.
He is an excellent young player, but the Black Cats have plenty of options in midfield, and while he will no doubt back himself, he could struggle for game time on Wearside.
From Sunderland’s perspective, it may be they will wait to see if Dylan McGeouch stays on Wearside before they make a second bid.
