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10:03am Wednesday 31st January 2007
KEVIN Bond is unlikely to pursue his interest in Dimitrios Zografakis - even though the player was apparently prepared to compromise on his £300,000 annual salary!
The 28-year-old Greek midfielder spent last week training with Cherries and was among the crowd for their friendly against Everton on Saturday.
Zografakis, who was brought over by English-based agent Chris Adedeji, reputedly earned around 450,000 Euros with his former clubs PAOK and Panionios.
But although he impressed Bond and was willing to reduce his demands, falling in line with the existing wage structure at Dean Court proved a major stumbling block.
Bond told the Daily Echo: "The agent knew our financial parameters because he has recommended a number of players to us in the past. But although he knew our limitations, when I told the player's Greek agent where we were coming from, he was gobsmacked.
"They were looking for a lot more than we could ever pay so it was almost a waste of time. The lad was very enthusiastic and certainly had something about him, but we couldn't get anywhere close to what he wanted."
Bond joked: "He was a bit of a terminator and kicked most things that moved until they didn't move any more so I needed to let him go before he injured anybody!"
Meanwhile, Bond drew a blank in his search for new blood ahead of the transfer deadline after making enquiries for QPR striker Paul Furlong and Gaston Sangoy, an Argentinean frontman who has been training with Watford.
Bond said: "Sangoy was recommended to me, although as I hadn't seen him myself, I wasn't prepared to commit the club financially to something they might regret. I tried to do something incentive-based but it didn't work out and he's gone elsewhere. He may end up to be a very good player, but I couldn't afford to take that chance.
"I also made an enquiry with John Gregory about Paul Furlong but he said he wouldn't let him out on loan at this moment in time."
Bond said he was still waiting to hear from Everton with regards to Bjarni Vidarsson, but had been told that Swansea defender Izzy Iriekpen would be staying put in South Wales.
He also confirmed that he had received "one or two very tentative enquires" for James Hayter and Josh Gowling, but did not wish to name the clubs involved and also said he did not want to lose either player.
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