I know the fans will be very disappointed to learn that we have agreed to sell Andy but I hope they can understand that this decision was not influenced by the amount of the transfer fee involved but by Andy's persistence that he be allowed to leave. A number of clubs registered their interest in Andy and we made it clear to all of them that he would remain at Scunthorpe until the end of his contract. It was therefore a complete surprise to us that he had his mind set on joining Wolverhampton Wanderers before they even had permission to speak to him.
After discussing the situation with the manager and his assistants we all felt Andy would not help our push for promotion if he was not 100 per cent committed to the team. As we saw on Saturday, a committed Andy Keogh is a truly outstanding player but this commitment was in the knowledge that it might well be his last game for Scunthorpe United. In his time with us he has played a huge part in getting us to the top of League 1 and we must thank him for that and wish him continued success with his new club.
The fee involved is £600,000 of which £100,000 will go to Leeds United. There is a 15% Sell-On and other possible additions should Wolverhampton Wanderers attain promotion to the Premier League whilst Andy is their player.
It is vital that we use this income to strengthen the team, not only for the rest of this season, but also for next season when we hope to be playing at a higher level. Just as we had no desire to part with a player mid-season, we are finding other clubs reluctant to part with good players in the January transfer window, but we are hopeful some progress might be made during this next week.
As you already know, we turned down a very big offer for Billy Sharp and I am pleased to say, Billy remains totally committed to Scunthorpe United.
Steve Wharton
Chairman