Coventry Beat United To Signature

Dundee United manager Craig Levein had intended to sign at least one more player before the January transfer window closed last night, but Coventry City had other ideas.

New Zealand International Che Bunce has been at Tannadice all week on trial, with Levein intending to sign the former Sheffield United defender up on a deal until the end of the season.

Bunce flew over from New Zealand last week, to give Craig Levein the chance to view the defender in training before offering him a short-term deal.

However, CocaCola Championship side Coventry City made a last minute dash to sign Che Bunce, by offering him 3x as much as SPL side Dundee United could afford to pay the 31-year-old.

Bunce played in a reserve game against Rangers on Tuesday, with goals from Garry Kenneth and David Goodwillie giving United a 2-0 win at the Broadwood Stadium.

"They've offered him about three times what we could come up with, so the deal won't be going ahead. It came out of the blue, but that's football," said Levein.

"After yesterday, I had thought that - with him not having a club - it was going to be straightforward and Coventry were not even represented at the reserve game."

"Someone has recommended him to them, though, and there is not much we could do about that."

Meanwhile, Coventry City caretaker boss Adrian Heath admitted to the club's official website that it was Bunce's experience that was the reason for bringing him down south.

"He has a mountain of experience and a real presence in defence," said Heath.

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