Celtic & Saints Trail Elokobi?

Speculated interest in Colchester United left back George Elokobi from Celtic and Southampton this week threatens to trigger a transfer rush on a par with the protracted Layer Road sagas Greg Halford, Lommana Lua-Lua and Neil Danns.

The U’s have lost three prodigal sons in Halford, Lua-Lua and Danns over recent years because of a relative inability to compete with the lucrative salaries and high transfer fees in an inflated market.

At one point last season, for example, a list of twelve Premier League sides were interested in gaining Halford’s services when half-a-dozen scouts attended Colchester’s FA Cup tie against Barnet. Days later, the Daily Mail reported that England youth international Halford, who eventually chose Reading, to be worth an astonishing £7 million.

Now, despite the fact that the permanent transfer window has only recently closed, at least these two clubs have a confirmed interest Elokobi, according to reports, impressed by his start to the season. The Cameroon man has assisted in three goals and put in a series of match-winning displays.

This has prompted fears that the 21-year-old could seek to exit Essex and so begin an unrelenting cycle of claims and counter-claims over his future, which cannot be resolved immediately unless he chooses to instigate an instant loan move.

Until recently, having been considered too raw to merit a starting place as Colchester looked to establish themselves in the Championship, he was understudy to Chris Barker, although any reasonable offer would surely receive consideration.

The club remains confident, though, that the defender will stay long-tem to continue his resurgence at full-back, but have no duty to respond to conjecture in the media, where the story first gained substance at the start of the week.