Jim Goodwin is open to making Sam Dalby’s loan spell with Dundee United permanent – but fears his scintillating form could catch the eye of clubs ‘with deeper pockets’.
Dalby, 24, notched his fifth goal in six games to secure a 1-1 draw against Rangers on Saturday, powering home a clinical header from Vicko Sevelj‘s pinpoint delivery.
As well as rippling the net with regularity, Dalby has proved an adept focal point for the Tangerines, turning in a series of tireless showings in attack, holding the ball up and linking superbly with his teammates.
Having fallen out of the first-team picture at Wrexham, Dalby is evidently relishing a concerted run of starts.
And Goodwin reckons he will only get better.
Dalby is out of contract with the English League One promotion hopefuls and is yet to receive clarity on what his future holds with the Welsh outfit.
“Sam is a player that we really like, and we would love to enter into negotiations about extending his time here at United because he’s coming out of contract at Wrexham in the summer,” said Goodwin.
“Sam has done everything that I expected from him and he’s loving it here. I spoke to his agent after the game on Saturday and he’s speaking very positively about the whole set-up here at Dundee United, which is great.
“Five goals in six games is a great return for someone who had to be patient at the beginning. I think he has more to come. He’s at a great age and the Scottish game really suits him.”
Goodwin: No.9s like Dalby are hard to find
However, Goodwin is cognisant that there is a lot of water to go under the bridge before United can make serious moves towards Dalby’s stay at Tannadice becoming a permanent one.
“I don’t know what Wrexham’s long-term plans are for Sam but, from our perspective, I couldn’t be any more pleased with what he’s done,” continued Goodwin.
“The only concern with Sam is that, as much as we’re admiring the work he’s doing, I’m pretty sure there’ll be lots of other people taking notice.
“Number nines like that are hard to find these days; ones who can hold the ball up, lead the line, have good feet and an eye for goal.
“I’m not stupid enough to think that there wouldn’t be other teams out there looking at him as well – teams that might have deeper pockets than us.”
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