United:Healy is not for sale
By Phil Hay
Leeds United boss Kevin Blackwell will treat any low-cost January raids for David Healy with contempt after admitting the striker's value is beginning to rocket.
Healy produced one of the performances of his career to guide Northern Ireland to a 3-2 over Spain in Belfast on Wednesday evening, and his spectacular hat-trick is likely to have caught the attention of several Premiership managers.
The closure of the transfer window will prevent any attempts to lure him from Elland Road until January 1, and United will not react positively to attempts to steal the forward – especially for a cut-price fee.
Blackwell revealed he had turned down a number of "substantial offers" for players before the August deadline, and despite his refusal to confirm that Healy was among them, the 27-year-old – signed from Preston for around £300,000 in 2004 – was almost certainly a target.
United chairman Ken Bates has confirmed that one of the unsuccessful bids came from Wolves – tomorrow's opponents at Elland Road – for winger Eddie Lewis.
Blackwell said: "We've turned down substantial bids for four or five of our players and that shows the quality of the players we have here, and that our recruitment has been good.
"I think David was a good £300,000 worth, don't you? Strikers scoring like that, against a side like Spain, they're going for £10 million or £15million.
"I'm not saying he's worth that, but he's substantially increased his value."