Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas has praised top scorer James Constable for his loyalty after the striker turned down the chance to talk to arch rivals Swindon Town about a move.
Paulo Di Canio's promotion chasing Swindon side made two bids for Constable last week, with the club accepting the second bid and allowing the player the chance to speak to Swindon about a move. But the 27-year-old, who is an idol to U's fans for his commitment and goals that helped fire the club back into the Football League, decided against the move.
In a statement, the club said it had been a "difficult week" but the move was definitely off. Any transfer would have enraged Oxford fans, and in the same statement the club explained the process behind its decision to accept an offer from Town.
"Oxford United were initially approached by Swindon with an offer for Constable, which was rejected," the statement read. "An increased subsequent offer was also rejected. The player was kept informed but indicated he did not want to consider the matter unless the club had indicated that a satisfactory offer had been received. An offer was then tabled to Oxford United with an indication from representatives that James Constable would also significantly increase his weekly wage.
"The board of Oxford United together with the manager concluded that the offer was high enough that, on a business basis and a football basis, it must be considered acceptable to Oxford United. The club also believed that it had an obligation to a long-serving and loyal player to inform him of the possibility to increase substantially his wages by joining a new club, albeit a major rival to Oxford, and that to not allow him such a possibility was wrong."
But Constable spoke to his family and decided against a move, writing on Twitter: "This has been one of the toughest days I have had in my career, never wanted to leave the football club, it means everything to me! #OUFC."
The club said Kelvin Thomas and U's boss Chris Wilder spoke to owner Ian Lenagan about the deal, who reassured them the club didn't need to sell one of their best players to raise funds.
"Whilst the club fully understands the emotion that is involved with any transfer, especially involving major local rivals, it is very important for the long-term stability of the football club that sensible and balanced decisions are made which are not based on emotion," the statement continued. "Especially in the current economic climate where there are other football clubs unfortunately finding themselves in dreadful financial difficulties."
Chairman Thomas said that when a serious, acceptable offer was made for a United player, the club would always discuss it with the player concerned. "We firmly believe a player should have the right and the time to think about the situation and to partake in the decision to ensure it is right for them as well as for the club," he said.
"In this case, the financial offer was a very good one for Oxford United and it was understood that the financial offer to James would be equally as good for him. Taking away the emotion of it all and after what James has done for this football club, it would have been unfair and unprofessional to not allow him the opportunity to substantially better his financial position.
"It is very easy to say no to every offer but the risk then is that you make the wrong business decisions and may also have an unhappy player. After the initial meeting to inform James of the position, he said he would discuss the opportunity with his family which he did throughout the day. James then decided that he wanted to stay at Oxford United and not consider the Swindon opportunity.
"We are very pleased to retain James as an Oxford United player and his decision reflects very well on James's loyalty and also on the environment we have created over the past few years at the football club. I have spoken with James, as has the manager, and he is happy at the club and very positive about going forward. We also appreciate the professional way that Jeremy Wray at Swindon dealt with the process and look forward to seeing his club on March 3."
Constable, who has attracted interest from Luton, Bournemouth and Crawley Town this season,has nine goals this season but wasn't able to find the net in United's 2-2 draw with Hereford United on Saturday.
