No price on Upson, blasts Bruce

STEVE BRUCE last night insisted Birmingham defender Matthew Upson is not for sale and insisted he has the full backing of the club’s co-owner David Sullivan and the board of directors on the issue.

West Ham have had bids of £4m (€5.1m) and £6m (€7.7m) rejected by the Blues — and Bruce is adamant Upson will remain at St Andrews.

It is a hard-line stance by Bruce who claims he does not care if he is left with an unhappy player on his hands.

Bruce said: “I will reiterate that there is no price on Matthew Upson. I have had the complete backing of the board over my stance on things because of the situation we find ourselves in.

“We have had two bids (from West Ham) and they have both been rejected. Matty has expressed his desire not to sign a new contract. If I was a player myself I might do the same and keep my options open.

“But he also signed an agreement when he came here for five-and-a-half years. He has got to do the honourable thing and abide by his contract.

“We are not putting any pressure on him to sign a contract. I can understand how he feels with the chance to go back and play in the Premiership.

“But my job is to protect this club and I know if we lost him, there would be a few people looking at me and saying ‘what the hell are we doing, losing our best player?’

“How can I put a price on that? We’ve got three months and the opportunity I’m sure will be there for Matt in abundance in the summer if that’s what he requires.”

Bruce added: “I couldn’t give a s*** if he I have got an unhappy player or not. He is not going, full stop. Whether it is £8m, £9m, £10m, it wouldn’t matter.

“Of course, I can understand Alan Curbishley keep coming back like we did with Gary McSheffrey and Coventry. But we always knew there was a price with McSheffrey. I always knew that Coventry needed the money.

“If anyone can treble their wages, it’s a pull but Matt is going to accept it. That’s my stance on it and I haven’t changed and neither have the board. I am being as honest as I possibly can.

“My message is clear to Alan Curbishley. It would take crazy money and that’s not £8m, £10m – and the board are 100% behind me.”