• The Championship

Liverpool target Ince offered new deal

ESPN staff
May 15, 2013
Thomas Ince is a target for Liverpool © PA Photos
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Blackpool have offered Liverpool target Thomas Ince a new contract in a bid to increase his value in the transfer market.

The 21-year-old, who scored 18 goals for the Championship club this season, was a £6 million target for Liverpool and Reading in the January transfer window.

His initial, two-year deal at Bloomfield Road expires this summer but Blackpool were able to activate a clause to extend that for a further 12 months.

However, Blackpool are anxious to prevent Ince from walking away next year and hope to tie him and fellow winger Matt Phillips down to longer-term contracts. Both are likely to attract interest from Premier League clubs this summer.

"We all know the situation with Matty and Thomas," manager Paul Ince, Thomas' father, told the Blackpool Gazette.

"We have options on them but 12 months is not a long time, so we have offered them new deals. Twelve months isn't long enough, and by January they will have clubs everywhere trying to speak to them. Those two are high on our list to look at."

The younger Ince joined Blackpool from Liverpool in 2011 and has been named in the England Under-21 squad for the European Championship in June.

Scotland international Phillips, 22, reportedly attracted a £5 million bid from Southampton last year.

Blackpool have also offered new contracts to seven other players, including Scotland internationals Barry Ferguson and Stephen Crainey.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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