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And further Transfer Gossip:
Belfast Telegraph/Stuart McKinley - May 27 - Dowie and Magilton in battle to sign McAuley
Former Northern Ireland team-mates Iain Dowie and Jim Magilton are locked in a battle over a member of the current international squad.
The pair – who were also colleagues at Southampton during their playing days – have both placed defender Gareth McAuley at the top of their summer shopping list.
McAuley looks certain to leave Leicester City after their relegation into League One, with a number of clubs chasing his signature.
Interested parties, however, are likely to have to part with around £1.5 million for the Larne man and that will give the Foxes a handsome profit after siging him on a free transfer from Lincoln City just two years ago.
Dowie, who took over as manager of Queens Park Rangers shortly after the season finished, wants to make McAuley one of his first signings as he aims to mount a challenge for at least a play-off place in the Championship next season.
He has been given the remit of taking the Loftus Road outfit into the promised land of the Premier League and Dowie has set himself a target of getting there within the term of the two-year contract he signed when appointed.
He is believed to see McAuley as the kind of player he needs to add steel to his defence after finishing mid-table.
Ipswich Town manager Magilton chased McAuley during the January transfer window as he tried to beef up his squad for what turned out to be an unsuccessful fight for a play-off place.
New owner Marcus Evans wants to see an improvement next time around and he is prepared to invest in the players that the manager wants.
Twice at the start of the year Magilton had offers for McAuley rejected and he is currently weighing up a fresh bid for the player in the hope that he will be on-board by the time the Tractor Boys arrive in Northern Ireland for a three-match pre-season venture in mid-July.
Any move from QPR may be on hold though after Dowie’s mother Ann died at the age of 71 at the weekend after a long-term illness.
She was well known to Northern Ireland fans at Windsor Park having been a regular attender at matches when Iain led the attack.
Leicester will hold out for as big a fee as possible for McAuley as they are aware that there is plenty of interest from around the Championship..." Belafst Telegraph