Coyle targets Ngog

Owen Coyle has pulled plug on his pursuit of Jeffren Suarez and Daniel Sturridge to sign two new strike stars.

Liverpool's French front man David Ngog is now hot favourite to arrive at the Reebok and could become the fourth signing to be completed this week.

Burnley pair Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears are both expected to seal a £2.75million deal in the next 48 hours, with midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker also in advanced talks.

Sturridge will almost certainly not be returning to the club with Chelsea expected to announce in the next few days that the England U21 international has joined Tottenham in a £27m package for Luka Modric.

And Coyle admits his chances of signing Jeffren are also slim, as the player has yet to make contact with the club since Wanderers' £5m bid was accepted two weeks ago.

The Spain U21 international is also wanted by Atletico Madrid and Valencia and is now likely to stay in La Liga, with Wanderers ready to invest their money in Ngog.

"I don't wait and see with anyone," Coyle told The Bolton News. "Either you want to play for this football club, or you don't.

"I have not talked to Jeffren or his representatives, so the story makes it out that it's a bit further down the line than it is, but if it isn't going to happen, then we'll move on."

Coyle enquired about Ngog last summer and was quoted £6m by then Reds boss Rafa Benitez, but he could now land the former Paris St Germain man at roughly half that price.

Mears and Eagles are likely to be the next names through the door, although Coyle was cautious about announcing the transfer as a done deal.

"I think Burnley have made public that the offer has been accepted and they are both very good players who I know well from my time there," he said.

"But they are not signed yet. We still have some negotiating to do.

"I'm in negotiations with a number of players but until they are signed and sealed we won't go making a song and dance about it."

After announcing Darren Pratley as the first signing of the summer on July 1, Wanderers fans have had to wait patiently for more business to be done. Reo-Coker sat down for talks on Saturday and is now considering whether to accept the Whites' offer of a three-year deal - and it is hoped the former Aston Villa midfielder could be in place by the time the club travel to Wales on Friday to play friendlies against Newport and Hereford.

It might have been a long wait, but Coyle insists his approach has paid off.

"Any manager will tell you if he wants to sign three or four players, that he'd like to have them all in before pre-season," he said. "But it doesn't always work out like that."

Coyle confirmed young striker Tom Eaves would miss only the next six weeks of football after scans revealed he had not damaged cruciate ligaments in the recent friendly against Orlando.

"We've had the scans and we don't think there has been any major damage," he said. "We're looking at one or two months as opposed to nine to 12, so obviously we're absolutely delighted."

Source: The Bolton News

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