Harkin will only leave on our terms: Kearney
Cliftonville have been in negotiations with the Bannsiders for a number of weeks now and are very keen to land the former Derry City midfielder.
Speaking after his side’s 3-0 win over Dergview on Saturday though Kearney said the Showgrounds club would not be bullied into a deal.
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Hide Ad“I’d love to keep Ruairi here, I want to keep him, but I think at this point he would be keen to move,” said the Bannsiders boss.
“But he’s contracted to Coleraine and has a year left on his contract and we’ll not be bullied, if he does go he’ll go for what we think he’s worth.
“The two chairmen have been in negotiations for a week or two now.
“It has been rumbling on for a while now and has permeated through four or five different stages, and it has evolved down to a straight deal now if it gets done.”
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Hide AdKearney already has a targets in mind to replace Harkin if he does make the switch to Solitude.
“I would be wanting to replace like for like in there,” he said.
“I have a couple of players in mind.”
On the pitch Coleraine warmed up for next Saturday’s league opener against Portadown with a routine 3-0 win over Dergview.
The hosts wents in front early on after a mix up in the Dergview box saw their keeper palm the ball into his own net.
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Hide AdJames McLaughlin rattled in a second just before the break, and he added another midway through the second half after great work by Jamie McGonigle.
Dergview almost pulled a goal back through veteran Ivan Sproule, who rattled the bar with a free kick.