Walsall Football Club manager Dean Smith has today spoken about French trialist Mathieu Manset, who it was revealed yesterday, has returned to France despite the Saddlers' growing interest in acquiring his services.24-year-old former Hereford United, Reading and Antwerp striker Manset joined the Saddlers on trial last week and made a goal-scoring debut against Leicester City, a performance which earned him much praise from both press and supporters.
Speaking to the Express & Star, Smith said; “We are talking and it’s with a view to a deal, obviously when you are dealing with agents it gets a little bit trickier.
“That is where we are at. He was at Royal Antwerp last season but he is based in France, he has a fiancée and a baby over there. We would like him to come here, we are negotiating with his people.”
“He has done well. What I like about his is his attitude to it. He has come in and told us what he wants and he likes what he is doing here.
“I don’t think he is anywhere near fit at the moment but that excites me even more because, if we get him a little bit fitter, there could be a really good player there.
“At the moment he is not our player and negotiations are ongoing. We have been negotiating for two or three days already.
"Unfortunately his representatives have some big clients and are busy elsewhere at the moment. It's not something being done very quickly. We have the whole of August to do it.
"Ideally, you want people in who you know but because we have had him for the week and half we feel we have got to know a little bit about him and he has got to know us.”