Taylor agent ignoring Cellino as transfer interest heightens

Charlie Taylor’s agent is remaining silent as his feud with Leeds owner Massimo Cellino grows and amid unconfirmed reports the club are set to agree a fee with interested clubs.

The highly-rated Leeds left-back, who we exclusively revealed had held talks with Liverpool and Stoke last week, has been the subject of a growing feud with controversial owner Cellino, who told the Daily Mail he doubted the player would agree to extend his contract at Elland Road.

Leeds are hoping to extend the deals of Lewis Cook, Alex Mowatt and Taylor – but Cellino claims the latter’s agent has been avoiding his calls.

The likes of West Brom and Crystal Palace have also been tracking the defender and unconfirmed reports claim the Whites are ready to sanction the sale of their Player of the Year for a fee of around £5million.

Taylor, 22, is two years into the three-year deal he received from Cellino in the summer of 2014 and his reputation has grown dramatically in that period, culminating in him receiving the club’s player-of-the-year award at the end of the 2015-16 season.

The Yorkshire Evening Post says Taylor’s wage at Elland Road is understood to have increased towards the end of that campaign owing to an appearance-related clause in his contract.

But Cellino has cast doubt over the possibility of Taylor accepting further offers from the club by saying the youngster is “going to be a problem”.

Taylor is represented by Colin Pomford, an agent who also works on behalf of former United defender Sam Byram.

A fall-out between Cellino and Pomford contributed to the bitter situation which saw Byram quit Leeds for West Ham United in January, six months before the end of his deal – and fears are mounting that the same could happen with Taylor.

Cellino told the Mail: “Charlie is going to be a problem, I think his agent is the same as Sam. Taylor doesn’t return the call.”

Pomford was approached for comment on Cellino’s remarks but has not responded.

Cellino, however, appeared more optimistic about tying Cook, the Football League’s young player of the year, to new terms. Leeds repelled attempts by Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe to sign Cook in January and the club expect him to stay at Elland Road for the forthcoming Championship season.

“With Cook, he’s got good agents and is a nice kid,” Cellino said.

“I think we are not going to have any problem.”

Taylor told the YEP in April that he would be with Leeds next season “unless anything drastic happens”, but given the latest turn of events, it would probably be more of a surprise if he was indeed still at Elland Road for the 2016/17 season.