Dublin snubs Leeds over wage demands

Dion Dublin was understood last night to have turned down the chance to join Leeds United. Leeds had put in an offer around £6 million for the Coventry City striker but, as with Blackburn Rovers last week, the deal faltered over wages.

This may leave the way open again for Aston Villa, whose bid so far has not topped the minimum £5 million required to speak to Dublin.

Leeds were understandably disappointed. Their response to going out of the UEFA Cup 1-0 on aggregate to Roma on Tuesday was for the chairman Peter Ridsdale to restate the club's ambition by entering the transfer market to strengthen the manager David O'Leary's squad.

Last week they had inquired about Newcastle's David Batty and were prepared to pay £5 million until Newcastle informed them that Batty was not for sale "at any price", and on Tuesday, before the Roma match, Ridsdale faxed Coventry asking for permission to speak to Dublin. That permission was granted yesterday but evidently to no avail.

Leeds have given up chasing Barnsley's Ashley Ward after his club said they wanted twice the £2.5 million being offered.

"We have made three offers in the past week and we are awaiting the outcome of bids for two of them," said Ridsdale yesterday morning. But by the afternoon it had been accepted that Ward had joined Batty as being unapproachable.

It means that O'Leary is left with little option but to look elsewhere for striking talent, as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has not scored for eight matches. It is unlikely a new forward will be in place by the time Leeds host Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.

Coventry, meanwhile, have beaten off competition from Newcastle and Aston Villa to sign the Belgium under-21 winger Laurent Delorge from Ghent in a £1.3 million deal.

Meanwhile, Greek defender Nikos Dabizas has confirmed he will miss Newcastle's game against Sheffield Wednesday on November 14th in order to play for his country. The 25-year-old former Olympiakos star will leave for Greece on November 12th, the day after United meet Blackburn in the League Cup, and will be unavailable for the home clash with Danny Wilson's side two days later.

Greece take on Albania in a Euro 2000 qualifier in Athens on November 18th. Dabizas is one of three men likely to miss the game. Goalkeeper Shay Given will be on international duty with the Republic of Ireland in Yugoslavia on the same night, and defender Stuart Pearce will start a three-match ban following his sending-off against West Ham on Saturday if his appeal fails.

Both international games were postponed because of the situation in Kosovo.