Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock will decide tomorrow whether to increase the club’s offer for Aberdeen midfielder Jonny Hayes.
The Bluebirds had a £500,000 bid for the 29-year-old knocked back by the Dons on Thursday night.
Warnock will play a waiting game, he has several other targets in his search for a wide player to spark an escape from the danger of relegation from the English Championship, and said: “They’ve turned the bid down, that’s as far as it’s gone. We’ve made what we think is a realistic offer.
“I don’t know if we’ll go back in, you don’t put your eggs in one basket, we’ve got offers in. I’m meeting Vincent (Tan, Cardiff’s owner) on Sunday and we’ll have a good chat.
“I’ve put forward some targets, we’ve made offers for players, and I’m looking forward to see if we can get two or three in. It might be last minute but we’re trying.”
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is determined to do all he can to keep one of his best players, who still has 18 months remaining on his contract.
McInnes said: “£500,000 can get a club an average player in the Championship and if clubs have the same opinion of Jonny as I do then it falls way short of where we see him.
“We stay as we are and move on. I will talk to Jonny but I don’t think he would be surprised the bid has been rejected.”
Cardiff need wide players in the scramble to avoid relegation and have several targets. Warnock needs quick fixes and the 68-year-old knows time is running out to save the Bluebirds.
McInnes added: “They are in the market for a wide player, they have tried a few different avenues to get one but they will have to show more willingness to get Jonny because he is such a key player.
“I don’t want to lose players in the January window, if it has to happen the summer is better because it would give us more time to get people in.
“A lot of rash decisions can get made in this window but we won’t be rushed or do anything we don’t want to do.”
The manager has been busy this week talking to players who will be free agents in the summer.
The likes of captain and midfielder Ryan Jack and Niall McGinn, who, along with Bristol City loanee Wes Burns has missed the trip to Dubai, are out of contract in the summer and McInnes said: “I’m hopeful when we get back to Aberdeen next week there will be some good news on the contracts for other players.
“We have sat down for talks with a few of them this week.
“There are some I want to commit, and we have spoken about the benefits of that, and there are some who have been told they need to do more to earn a new deal.
“A lot of the conversations I have had with the players has been about them going on to better themselves.
“We have still so much to play for and, although a bid of a certain amount could make us change our minds about selling a player, we were strong in our feeling we wanted to stay the way we are in terms of the squad and hopefully add to it.”