Reported Imps Interest In Bournemouth Man Wide of the Mark

Credit Graham Burrell

City have been credited with an interest in Bournemouth winger Baylin Johnson recently, with The 72 reporting we’re in a race with Stockport County for his signature.

The 17-year-old has been on loan at Dorchester this season, and aside from us and Stockport, K.V. Oostende and Rapid Wien were also interested in taking him on loan. Having spent ten years with Arsenal before his switch to Bournemouth, he is indeed a hot prospect, but sources close to the club have informed me there’s nothing at all in it from our side.

As with all news today, the report quickly spread to local Bournemouth papers, which added validity, but my understanding is that the club does not have the player on a pool list, and a move has not been considered at this stage. Bear in mind that we’re probably working on deals that were first floated back in January or even further back, and you’ll reach the same conclusion I did – Baylin Johnson is not likely to be a Lincoln City player this coming season.

How do names get linked like this? It could be an overactive agent – many bloggers rely on the rule of three to spot those stories. If a report names three or more clubs as chasing a player, the news will likely be generated by an agent looking to drum up business. Sometimes, it’s also been created by the news outlet, although I don’t think this is the case with The 72 – if they had, they might have picked better-performing clubs (in terms of clicks) than Ooostende and Rapid Wein! Usually, a story like this would have clubs with large fanbases, such as Oxford, Swindon, Us, Bristol Rovers, and the like competing for players.

I don’t think signing a loan winger is out of the question – we were after Rak-Sakyi last season, and look how he did at Charlton. However, I don’t think we’ll be looking at a 17-year-old, no matter how talented, nor a player making the step up from the same level as Gainsborough Trinity.