Paddy McLaughlin is adamant that Conor McMenamin’s future is in the hands of both Cliftonville and Larne as the transfer window draws to a close today (Sunday).
McMenamin, who has 18 months remaining on his contract with the Reds, bagged a double in the midweek victory against Linfield but had to make do with a place on the bench amid speculation of a move to Inver Park.
Earlier in the month, McLaughlin insisted that the 25-year-old’s value must be met by interested suitors and reinforced that stance when speaking after yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Glenavon.
“As far as I’m aware it’s in the hands of the club,” McLaughlin revealed.
“We’ve set a value on Conor and if anybody wants to sign him or is interested in signing him, then they meet the value of the club. If they don’t meet the value of the club then the players stays - it’s not any different to anywhere around the world.
“He would be a big loss for to us. Even when he came on he scored what looked like a perfectly good goal and he could have turned the game in our favour to go on and win it. He’s got that brilliance and got that magic.
“If anybody wants to sign him they’ve got pay top price because he’s a top player and if that doesn’t happen in the next couple of hours then the player stays.”
In the aftermath of yesterday’s game, the Reds unveiled The signing of Daniel Kearns from Linfield.
McLaughlin has been a long term admirer of Kearns and is relieved to finally get his man after a few failed attempts.
“We’re delighted to get Daniel on board,” said the Reds’ boss.
“We’ve tried to sign him a couple of times and for whatever reason we couldn’t get it over the line but to finally get him over the line is brilliant.
“He’s technically excellent on the ball and has the ability to open teams up and bring people into play.
“We’re looking forward to getting him on the pitch here at Cliftonville and the fans I’m sure will love the ability that he brings."
Daniel Kearns has made the switch to Solitude from Linfield
As-well-as the signing of Kearns and early January acquisitions Rory Hale, Aaron McCarey and Eoin Teggart (loan), The Reds further bolstered their squad in recent days signing Kris Lowe from Dungannon Swifts and Barry Coffey on loan from Celtic.
McLaughlin stressed the importance of getting players in, due to the number of long injuries and is confident the new additions will enhance the squad going forward.
“We’ve a lot of long term injuries this season: Levi Ives, Seanna Foster, Donal Rocks, Calvin McCurry and Joe Gormley,” McLaughlin listed.
“At half-time we had to make two substitutions for Chris Curran and Garry Breen – it’s a horrendous run of injuries and most of them are serious and long term.
“It was important we got bodies in and the additions we brought in, not just today but over the course of the winter, have been brilliant signings for us.
“Hale and McCarey have already been superb and Barry Coffey is highly rated and an U19 Irish international playing for Celtic and pushing to get into the first team. Hopefully with some game time with us it will help that development and he can push on next year.
“Daniel coming in from Linfield is another brilliant addition; Kris Lowe has come in and made his debut and didn’t put a foot wrong.
“The signings we’ve made have definitely enhanced the quality that we have and we need to manage that because of the long-term injuries.”
