Michael Bailey Norwich City boss Glenn Roeder suffered two bouts of rejection yesterday as his search for first team firepower continues. Reports in the North East claimed Newcastle United had rejected a bid of £1m from the Canaries for 19-year-old striker Andy Carroll, with the Magpies' valuation for the player said to be considerably higher for the player.

Michael Bailey

Norwich City boss Glenn Roeder suffered two bouts of rejection yesterday as his search for first team firepower continues.

Reports in the North East claimed yesterday Newcastle United had rejected a bid of £1m from the Canaries for 19-year-old striker Andy Carroll, with the Magpies' valuation for the player said to be considerably higher for the player.

That followed news a second striker was destined to slip through City's fingers, after Stockport County won the race to sign Linfield striker Peter Thompson.

The Irish club confirmed they had accepted an offer from the League One side for the 24-year-old striker, rejecting an “unacceptable” bid from the Canaries for the Northern Ireland international.

A statement released by Linfield this afternoon read: “Linfield Football Club have agreed in principle to accept an offer from Stockport County FC for the transfer of Peter Thompson for an undisclosed fee.

“The player has been given permission to talk to Stockport County in a bid to finalise a deal.

“An offer for the player was received from Norwich City but this club's management committee was unable to accept the terms.”

Thompson was a late substitute for Linfield in their Champions League first leg qualifier defeat to Dinamo Zagreb at Windsor Park on Wednesday and although the Canaries tabled an offer for Thompson which was believed to have trumped the original £100,000 bid from Stockport, the Linfield board accepted County's offer.

Linfield manager David Jeffrey had already spoken highly of the way Stockport had gone about their business.

“They have been professional about it and the fact that their manager and chief executive broke off from a pre-season training trip in Italy to come to Belfast shows their desire for Peter,” said Jeffrey.

The striker will now discuss personal terms with the League One side, while City boss Glenn Roeder is likely to turn attention to his remaining striker targets.

Earlier, former Norwich City boss and current Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington had urged Thompson to move to Norfolk and test himself in the Championship to help test himself at a higher level.

“Whichever club Peter goes to will be determined by the business between the clubs involved and the player,” said Worthington. “Both moves are attractive ones for him and would be a positive step in his career with the main difference being the standard of football.

“Just as there is a gap between the Championship and Premier League, the same reality applies between League One and the Championship.

“But Norwich City is a very good club and would be an excellent move for him. At this moment of time it would be a major lift to him. They are a good family club who will look after him.

“City are well supported - you get crowds of around 26,000 packing into Carrow Road and the stadium and training facilities are very good.”