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Lincoln City have today announced that they have accepted an offer of £150,000 for defender Gareth McAuley. It has been suggested that the deal also contains a small sell-on-clause but this is not confirmed. Crewe have been watching the 26 year old defender for some time now but it was initially decided that the 6'3 defender wasn't dominant enough.
McAuley, who has also been attracting interest from Leicester and Doncaster, is reportedly pleased at the chance to join Crewe and the signs are that he will agree personal terms. Should McAuley agree terms, he will be cup-tied for this weekend's game at Preston meaning Derby away on the 14th Jan is the earliest date he could make his debut. McAuley, who would have been out of contract at the end of the season at Lincoln, was handed his first full Northern Ireland cap against Germany in June and subsequently played against Portugal this season. Having joined from Coleraine, McAuley has made 66 appearances for Lincoln scoring 7 goals in the process. Crewe thought about signing McAuley during his time at Coleraine but were unsure whether he could cope with such as big jump up the footballing ladder at that time.
The club are also believed to have made offers for some other players and are waiting to hear whether or not they have been accepted. Meanwhile, Man City have made an offer believed to be around £100,000 for Shrewsbury goalkeeper Joe Hart who had attracted the interest of Crewe boss Dario Gradi. However, it is believed Shrewsbury want nearer £1m for their young goalkeeper.