NEIL Young fears he is being priced out of a move for lightning-fast wing-back Danny Williams.
Young wants to sign the 24-year-old on a permanent transfer once his season-long loan from Kendal Town runs out.
But the Chester FC boss is close to pulling the plug on the deal.
Kendal would be entitled to a fee as Williams is under contract for another year. Young is willing to pay what he believes is a good price for the Wigan-born flyer.
But he has warned the hard-up Evo-Stik Northern Premier League outfit he will not be held to ransom.
Young said: “It’s turning out to be a bit more challenging than I was expecting.
“We are trying to complete the deal but at the moment the transfer fee is the stumbling block.
“Danny is very keen to join and talks will be ongoing.
“But if it’s not resolved shortly then we’ll have to move on to other targets unfortunately.”
Young sat down with assistant manager Gary Jones on Monday to put plans in place for next season.
Promoted Chester will have one of the smallest budgets in the Blue Square Bet Premier.
But Young is willing to spend some of the cash he has available on Williams as he fits the ‘profile’ of the type of player he wants to bring to the Exacta Stadium.
The treble title-winning manager said: “We always knew that if and when we got to the Conference we were going to be at the lower end.
“That is why we’ve worked so hard over the last three years to identify up and coming young players who will be the future of the football club.
“We’ve hopefully done that by signing Antoni Sarcevic, Ashley Williams, Dom Collins and hopefully Danny too.
“You then mix those young, hungry lads with experienced players like George Horan and Paul Linwood.
“That’s the profile I want for this club and I will continue to try and implement it the best that I can.”
Champions Chester will receive the Blue Square Bet North trophy after their final home game of the season against Solihull Moors on Saturday (3pm).
Nathan Turner is struggling with a knee problem.
The injury ruled the midfielder out of last night’s Cheshire Senior Cup final against Stalybridge Celtic, which was played after The Chronicle went to press.
