Elokobi Ready to Quit U`s

George Elokobi has shocked Colchester United by handing in a transfer request and is ready to quit the Layer Road side.

Elokobi, 21-years-of-age, has recently lost his place in the first team to fellow full-back Danny Granville.

This is seen as the main reason behind Elokobi’s decision to quit, although it was only for two games.

Elokobi, who moved to England in 2002 after growing up in Cameroon, has been at the centre of intense transfer speculation in the past few weeks, with Scottish Champions Celtic vying to secure his services, along with Premier League side Reading and Colchester`s Championship rivals Southampton.

A few weeks ago, fans’ favourite, Elokobi stated his desire to play for his country, Cameroon, so a move away may well increase his chances of playing on the international stage.

The powerful defender, signed from non-league Dulwich Hamlet by former U`s boss Phil Parkinson in 2004, has made 14 appearances for the North Essex side this season but must warm the bench for now.

U’s boss Geraint Williams admitted he was very disappointed by the sought-after defender`s decision via a statement from the club.

He said: “I`m obviously very disappointed that he feels it necessary to hand in a transfer request.

I don`t like talking about players` contracts in the media but, as his agent has stated, we had a number of meetings with George and his agent while he was in the team and he stated that he had no intension of re-signing for the club.”

Williams also stated, “While I can`t do anything about transfer speculation, there have been no offers for George and we do not want to encourage any, because we feel he has a bright future here.

‘George remains a first-team player here at the club and we all want him to stay and have a successful future at Layer Road.”

If Elokobi does leave he will follow a large number of players who have forced a move away to so called ‘bigger clubs’ in recent times.