YORK City have had an ambitious bid for Bootham Crescent old boy Jonathan Greening turned down by Nottingham Forest.

Greening, now 34, is a former City team-mate of Richard Cresswell, who returned to the club on loan from Sheffield United this week.

But Scarborough-born midfielder Greening, who left the Minstermen for Manchester United in a £500,000 deal back in 1998, will not be joining Cresswell in the fight against relegation from the Football League.

It is understood that City had offered to pay a fraction of Greening’s wages but Forest have opted to keep the ex-Middlesbrough, Fulham and West Brom playmaker during their Championship push for promotion.

Greening has made just 11 league appearances this term, six during a loan spell with Barnsley at the end of last year.

But he has featured this month under new manager Billy Davies as a 70th-minute substitute during the 1-0 home victory over Ipswich.

After signing for the Red Devils, Greening was an unused substitute for the 1999 Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich.

He later commanded fees of £3 million and £1.25 million during respective moves to Middlesbrough and Fulham and is now a veteran with 487 career appearances under his belt.

On the attempt to secure Greening’s services, City chief Nigel Worthington said: “We tried to bring him to the club and made the phone call.

“It’s not happening because they did not want to let the lad out and want to keep him with the rest of the squad. I will keep tabs on his situation though next week because you never know what can change in this game.”