Lee Clark, the Kilmarnock manager, has insisted there has been no formal offer from Egyptian side Zamalek for Souleymane Coulibaly – and has maintained that if the player is sold before the end of the current transfer window then the Rugby Park will look to for a significant payment to counter the risk of losing their top scorer midway through the season.
Asked if a £1m valuation was fair for the striker, Clark said: “If that is the figure being set by the board of directors then they are well within their rights. To me, January is a completely different window to the summer. You always have a valuation but, certainly for a goalscorer, you have to put a premium on.”
The 22-year-old Ivorian has netted 11 times for Kilmarnock this term after joining the club in June and it was reported that Zamalek, with close rivals Al Ahly also reportedly interested in the player, had bid £500k for the player.
Clark was reluctant to put a price on the striker’s head but warned that Coulibaly will not be allowed to go on the cheap.
“There has been plenty of interest, I won’t deny that, but we haven’t had an official offer for Souleymane as we speak,” said the Kilmarnock manager. “In the pre-Christmas board meeting, I made the directors aware of what would happen come January when you have someone who scores goals – and the type Souleymane scores – you are going to attract interest from all over Europe.
“We have put plans in place. I don’t know what figure the board have put on the player’s head in terms of what would be acceptable. But I just advised that, because it is January, you should always stick a premium on top of that figure as well.
“Hopefully they will take my advice on board and we can go from there.”
Kilmarnock are currently just four points off bottom of the table Inverness Caledonian Thistle, although there is not much between those in the lower end of the league with just six points separating the top and bottom six.
There would be some concern that if Coulibaly’s goals were taken out of the equation that the risk of becoming mired in a relegation dog-fight increases, but Clark has already brought to mind possibilities for replacements should an offer formalise over the coming days.
He has admitted, however, that at this stage of the season the task of releasing players from clubs isn’t as straightforward as it can be in the longer summer window.
“As a manager, I have put potential possibilities in place if Souleymane was to leave. But that is not cut and dried,” he said. “There are various different scenarios if he does go. Whether there is the possibility of getting a transfer fee to reinvest, something I haven’t had before, or whether I have go down the free transfer and loan market.
“It’s all well and good me having potential possibilities lined up. But I don’t know what market I will be moving in and do you replace a goalscorer like Souleymane in the January market? Because if we are putting a premium on our goalscorer it could well be the same elsewhere.
“Hopefully for me as the manager I would like to see some of it re-invested in the squad but I would also like to improve on the infrastructure of the club. We have lots of good things here but we’d like to keep investing in the academy side too.
“When you get fantastic offers – although we haven’t had a formal offer yet – but assuming that we know what it would take to get him away from here – then we would like to invest again. There is a lot of things that need to be considered; if there are players who can come in or other clubs not going to release them because they need replacements too.”
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