Jim Goodwin has insisted there is significant interest in Rory MacLeod but he wants to keep him at Dundee United.
Premier League Fulham had agreed a deal in February but that collapsed as the move couldn’t be registered until the transfer window reopens in January. Goodwin, who hopes to keep United up and to land the manager’s job on a permanent basis, is happy he still has the 17-year-old striker in his Tannadice squad but confirmed that several other clubs have already started to circle.
The United manager said: “There is a lot of interest in a few of our young players and in Rory in particular. There was a lot of interest from Fulham but I don’t think that is close to being done or anything like it and there are other clubs who have enquired about him. Performances like the one last weekend at Motherwell, where he played a really significant role in helping us get the win, will continue to have people taking notice.
“I don’t want to lose any of the good players and if I am given the opportunity to be here next season, Rory is someone I would like to be working with. But you obviously have to have that business sense and the academy has to produce talent that can become sellable assets the future.
“As a manager you don’t want to lose good players but you have to understand it if the valuation is met by another club.
“In that sense, we’d be in a similar position to almost every other club.”
