NEWPORT County are bracing themselves for offers from a host of Football League clubs for star men Danny Rose and Lee Baker.
The club insist they have not received any official inquiries about the players, who are both under contract, but the pair are being strongly linked to moves away from Spytty Park this summer.
Midfield playmaker Rose has caught the eye throughout an impressive first season in the Blue Square Bet Premier and a number of scouts are believed to have watched him for England C against Portugal under-23s last week.
The 23-year-old, a former Manchester United youth star, is being monitored by Huddersfield, Sheffield Wednesday and Leyton Orient amongst others.
Baker made just one start in his first season as a County player, scoring in the last match of the league campaign at Gateshead after being sidelined with a career-threatening foot injury for nine months.
The 22-year-old has been linked with a move to Cheltenham Town to join up with his old Kidderminster Harriers boss Mark Yates.
The Gloucestershire Echo reported that the left-back is “believed to be in talks with Yates about a move to the Abbey Business Stadium”.
A spokesman for the Robins yesterday denied that any talks had taken place but admitted that Baker could be on Yates’ shortlist of targets for the summer.
County director of football Tim Harris said: “We’ve had no approach for Danny or Lee and they are both very important assets.
“It’s a credit to us as a club that teams are looking at our players and we’re not naive. If the deal is right it’s right but we don’t want to lose our best players, we want to build on last season and progress.”
Right-back Paul Bignot has undergone a trial at Championship club Leicester City and the future of midfielder Jamie Collins is also up in the air as Anthony Hudson continues to plan for next season.
The Exiles manager is hopeful of announcing his first additions to the playing squad this week.
One player who won’t be involved in the near future is youth team striker Ben Coles.
The talented teenager was stretchered off the field as County beat Croesyceil-iog 2-0 in the Gwent Senior Cup final in Abergavenny on Saturday.
Coles was raced to Nevill Hall Hospital in an ambulance from pitchside and has now been ruled out for between 15 and 18 months with a broken femur bone.
- County have been installed as 10/1 seventh favourites to win the Conference title next season. Beaten play-off finalists Luton Town are 3/1 favourites for the title.
- Former County stars Ian Hillier, Paul Cochlin, Kevin Cooper and Craig Hughes will be playing in the Europa League with Neath next season after the Eagles beat Prestatyn 3-2 in a play-off match on Saturday.
- For all the latest news and views on County follow us on Twitter. Search for ‘argusoncounty’ at twitter.com
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