Davies targets Liverpool ace

Jun 27 2008 by David Triggs, Chester Chronicle

CHESTER City are trying to bolster their defence by bringing Liverpool defender Godwin Antwi to the Deva.

Blues boss Simon Davies yesterday revealed he had been in touch with the Anfield giants to enquire about taking Antwi on loan.

Davies said: “He’s a big centre-half and we’re showing an interest in him.

“The only thing that concerns me when I look at our squad is the height thing, and he’s a big lad so that helps.

“We’ll try to get him here for as long as possible – whether it be a month or something more long-term. He’s played in League One for Hartlepool and if we can get players here with experience of playing at a higher level, then that can only be good for us.”

Antwi, 20, is yet to make a first-team appearance for Liverpool. But he played on loan at Accrington in 2007 and played 34 times for Hartlepool last season.

Chester are waiting on a response from Liverpool over the Ghana-born centre-back , who would be the ideal partner for skipper Paul Linwood.

Boss Davies has been eager to add more height into his squad as the only six-footers currently at his disposal are Linwood, Kevin Ellison and John Murphy.

He said: “I don’t want to go and pass teams to death and end up getting beat 1-0 because of a set-piece, or score a great goal and get done by two launches into the box.

“We’ve got Kevin Ellison, John Murphy and Paul Linwood for size but we maybe need another one.”

Bradford City’s Eddie Johnson could have injected some height and power into City’s engine room, but the midfielder this week turned down Davies’ offer of a two-year deal in favour of trying to earn a contract with Crewe.

“Eddie left it very late to tell us,” said Davies. “I wasn’t too pleased with that but we move on.”

Johnson turned his back on his hometown club shortly after it emerged that Chester had been hit with a transfer embargo by the Football League for the non-payment of players.

The claim was made via a statement on the Professional Footballers’ Association’s official website last Friday, but Chester reacted strongly to the allegation.

Owner Stephen Vaughan said: “We have been told that we are not embargoed and as such we’re free to bring in players.”

By Wednesday afternoon, the signings of the tough-tackling Jay Harris, 21, and former Liverpool Academy player David Mannix, 22, had been announced. Both midfielders were released by Accrington Stanley at the end of last season and have agreed two-year deals.

Davies added: “When we were trying to sort the contracts out, they weren’t really bothered about money – they just wanted to play football. “You rarely get that, but it’s nice to see that these players just want to put a Chester shirt on and do well for the club.”

The Football League yesterday declined to comment when asked by The Chronicle whether Chester were still subject to a transfer embargo.