Preston coy on '£6m Nugent offer'

Nugent is vital to Preston's promotion ambitions

Preston have refused to confirm that they have rejected a £6m bid from Sheffield United for England Under-21 international David Nugent.

In response to reports in Thursday's Daily Mail, Preston manager Paul Simpson said: "I'm not going to start talking about every single article.

"We are not going to comment on any of them, it is as simple as that

"We have said that we want to keep David Nugent at the club and that is all we really need to say."

All I want is that David Nugent stays with us and carries on scoring goals Preston manager Paul Simpson

Blades manager Neil Warnock is thought to have persuaded the board to sanction a £6m bid for the highly-rated England Under-21 striker.

Warnock an offer of that size for Nugent, who joined Preston from Bury in January 2005, would suceed.

But Simpson had already held a meeting with Preston chairman Derek Shaw at which they agreed to resist all offers for the player.

Simpson revealed: "Myself and the chairman sat down earlier in the week and had a chat about where we are going to go and what we want to do.

"I am delighted that he has now come out publicly and said that David Nugent is not for sale in the January transfer window - and that is the way I want it to stay.

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"All I want is that David Nugent stays with us and carries on scoring goals."

North End chairman Derek Shaw stated on Wednesday that the 21-year-old - linked with numerous clubs - will not be sold in the January transfer window.

"We do not want to sell him. We want to get to the Premiership," said Shaw. "We have 19 cup finals left, and David Nugent is not for sale.

"David Nugent has been tremendous for us, and I am sure he will play in the Premier League. But we want that to be with Preston North End.

"He will be a big player for us in these 19 cup finals, and we will assess the situation again after that."

North End are currently third in the Championship table having accrued 47 points from 27 league games.