Derby Test The Water For Barker?

It's reported today that Derby County manager Nigel Clough has made an approach for Blackpool club captain Shaun Barker.

The Rams are rumoured to have put in a £250k bid for the centre back, according to the Daily Mirror.

And that figure is one which keeps cropping up in Blackpool transactions, with Kaspars Gorkss, Wes Hoolahan, Peter Clarke, David Vaughan and Rob Edwards all thought to have been bought or sold for around that amount.

The £250k price tag is, as mentioned, nothing new to the club. They imfamously placed get out clauses on key players to this amount, but hopefully that shouldn't be a problem with Barker - who has two years to run on his current deal.

That fact, coupled with his quotes earlier on this week, mean that a move to Derby seems unlikely.

'Reggie' said: 'I've been very happy here and there's no reason why that shouldn't carry on. The last three years have been the happiest of my life.'

But whether Clough's offer of a quarter of a million is a way of testing the water to see how much they can get their man for remains to be seen.

Or, it's a case of the Mirror putting two and two together and getting five, which is equally plausible!

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