By Chris O'Brien
May 19 2005

Cardiff City have turned down a reported £250,000 bid from Championship winners Sunderland for highly-rated teenager Cameron Jerome. Despite the crippling financial condition of the club, Lennie Lawrence and the board remain defiant that players will not be shipped out cheaply.

Despite the dire financial situation at Ninian Park, Cardiff City will not be hosting an 'Everything Must Go' sale over the summer months. Lennie Lawrence and the Bluebirds board have been defiant by rejecting an offer from Premiership new-boys Sunderland for highly-rated teenage striker Cameron Jerome.

The Black Cats are reported to have had a £250,000 bid for the forward turned down, despite mammoth pressure for City to reduce their crippling £30million debts that threaten to scupper the very future of the football club. However, in Jerome Cardiff have a player with huge talent who has established himself as a first-team regular at the age of only eighteen. The youngster is not a high-earner so his sale is not a priority.

The initial rejection has not put offer Mick McCarthy, manager of the Championship winners, who is now tabling an improved offer for the pacey, raw attacker. Sam Hammam could well be tempted by an offer in the region of £400,000 from the North East, but club officials and supporters alike are anxious to see Jerome remain at Ninian Park. His 5 months in the first-team have hinted that the Bluebirds could have produced a player in the calibre of Rob Earnshaw, and nobody can doubt that City have missed the goalscoring prowess of the Zambian-born forward during a torrid campaign on all fronts.

Everton and Fulham are both believed to be scouting the Yorkshireman, and with Cardiff's monetary troubles well-documented, many clubs could be looking for the bargain buy of the first-year professional. Pressure from the bank mean City will be forced to sell players and cut the ridiculous monthly wage bill substantially, but early indications show the club still aims to hold onto its bright future in young players such as Cameron Jerome.

It's going to be an interesting few months to be a Bluebird.