CHRIS LAKEY Peter Grant believes young Premiership players are missing out on valuable experience because their clubs are reluctant to loan them out to Championship teams.

CHRIS LAKEY

Peter Grant believes young Premiership players are missing out on valuable experience because their clubs are reluctant to loan them out to Championship teams.

The City manager has baulked at some of the financial demands he has faced in his battle to add to his Carrow Road playing staff and says that, coupled with a reluctance to let players out of their sights, is proving harmful all round.

“It is not the fact that you pay a loan fee, but the loan fee can be anything up to £500,000, but also on top of that you are talking about £15,000 a week for somebody who has played probably two first team games,” said Grant.

“Because wages are so vast in the Premiership, the players who are not even near the top 20 players are on massive salaries. It used to be that they used to let them out and say we'll help you with the wages. That just doesn't happen now. Somebody the other day said somebody came in to loan a player from them and only offered to pay10pc of their wages and they said, 'well don't come here shopping if you can't afford it'.

“It's like us saying don't go to Harrod's if you can only afford to go to Tescos. I know what they feel like, because 10pc for us is massive dough, but for them it's nothing.”

Grant believes that top clubs are reluctant to allow players to go and don't realise that the Championship is the perfect training ground for would-be stars of the future.

“They have boys sitting there who would definitely benefit from regular playing, and they will not be near their first team even if they (the team) stay clear of injury - in some cases maybe three or four injuries,” said Grant.

With the transfer window closed, only Football League clubs are allowed to bring players in on emergency loans - while the top-flight clubs hoard players in case of injuries before the window opens again.

“The guy could end up playing only one game, if he's lucky, and that might be a Carling Cup substitute appearance,” Grant added. “That makes it more difficult - I could go to the lower levels, levels I feel wouldn't improve us, I could do that and bring people in to bolster the squad, but to me that defeats the purposes.

“There is definitely a benefit for it - at the end of the day we are going for the Premier League. It is not as if we are somebody from the fourth division or third division, whatever you call it. We are actually trying to get to the Premier League, that is the big step. It is not as if you are talking third or fourth division where it is going to take you a few years and you are not going to learn from.”

Grant is working on a tight budget at Carrow Road, watching as other clubs invest parachute payment cash to fuel their ambitions of a quick return to the top flight.

“They can afford to pay that top whack because they want to get back there - because they are just out and are taking a gamble this year trying to do that,” he said. “I think that will go on year after year - whoever comes out will pay the big dough so they can go straight back up.

“You have those problems - it is not just a matter of making the phone calls. We are just waiting for that one that gives us the drop, where we get that little bit of luck and get the bodies in.

“I have been speaking to managers this week and this week their excuse is they want to see how their boys come back from international games, and then we have a lot of Carling Cup games coming up.

“We are still involved in that and the big guns come in now, so that is a problem because they are going to use them and utilise their squads.”