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Paul Jewell on his transfer frustration.

Last updated : 25 August 2005 By Paul Farrington
Dean Ashton
The Norwich striker will not be joining the Latics after his club rejected a £5 million approach. Ashton has today signed an extension to his Carrow Road contract. The deal now expires in 2009.

Fatih Tekke is another target. The club have had a bid turned down by his club Trabzonspor, rumoured to be around £3 million. Finally, Dean Windass will not be joining after his club Bradford priced him out of a move to the JJB.

Jewell told the club's official website: "The money is not burning a hole in my pocket. Far from it, the work going on behind the scenes to sign new players is frantic and tireless. We are pursuing new targets and working through a list.

"To put supporters in the picture we made an offer for Dean Windass yesterday (Wednesday 24th August) but I don't think that will happen now.

"Dean would have been a great player to have in our squad, but I can understand Bradford not wanting to see their best player and I can understand Dean wanting to stay where he's guaranteed to play every week.

"Norwich have told us Dean Ashton is not for sale at any price, we made one bid of £5 million for him. As for Tekke, that was another substantial bid but his club don't need to sell and don't want to sell. I got the impression they would get in too much trouble with their fans if they let him leave, so that one isn't going to happen.

"I have got a couple of deals on the go as we speak (Thursday 25th August) but I'm not going to name names as it could put the deals in jeopardy. Let's put it this way, I wouldn't be spending any time at home this weekend."

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It is clear that Jewell is working hard enough to bring the players in and he will not bring a player in who won't do the job. All he is asking now is that the supporters are patient and back him in the transfer market.

Paul Jewell
He did the business over the summer and should Henri Camara not have suffered his hamstring injury, the fans would not be up in arms about the lack of firepower.

One thing that is frustrating PJ is the transfer window. Come August 31st the Latics will not be able to sign any players until after Christmas, and that is something which angers Jewell.

He continued: "This is a new situation for us to be in, it comes with progressing so quickly I guess. I know the clock is ticking to the 31st of August and I'm aware we need to strengthen ahead of that. To be honest I'm not a big fan of the transfer window, in fact I'd quite like to throw a brick through it at the moment.
"Chasing players abroad adds it's difficulties and I can tell you I've covered some miles in the past few weeks. We've been to Norway, Denmark, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany and other far flung places. We should get Alan Whicker on board."

He was also quick to squash rumours that the club lack ambition and commitment, sighting the Chairman's hard work. Jewell added: "The Chairman has shown throughout the summer he is prepared to put his hand in his pocket to get the players I want.

"Every bid I have made, many of which haven't come out in the press by the way, has been serious and the money we have offered to both clubs and players has been serious. Anyone who questions our commitment clearly has no idea about what goes on here."

I'm sure that if we are patient then Paul will something out of the bag. I mean let's face it, he has a good history of doing it!