YORK City are unlikely to offer Blue Square Premier rivals Ebbsfleet an improved bid for star defender Darius Charles.

The Minstermen have had a £10,000 swoop overwhelmingly rejected by the Kent outfit’s MyFootballClub owners and York assistant manager Andy Porter feels another approach would be similarly rebuked. In an internet poll, staged by Ebbsfleet, more than 2,000 of MyFC’s online subscription members cast their vote with almost 97 per cent opposed to 21-year-old Charles’ transfer to Bootham Crescent.

Porter, commenting in the absence of holidaying manager Martin Foyle, confirmed that the former Brentford centre-back was one of the two “top quality Conference players” City had targeted this summer.

He said: “We made the offer for Darius after seeing him play a few times last season.

“We just thought he would bring in more strength at the back for us, but it was a big rejection so I don’t think adding a bit more to our offer would make much difference.

“The supporters finance the club and they don’t think he should leave.

“Fans never want to get rid of their best players but, with their money situation, they could have a battle to keep the club afloat.

“We’re a bit disappointed, but we have other irons in the fire and still need a centre-half, central midfielder and a striker.”

Porter declined to confirm or deny whether City are also the unnamed club who have placed a £30,000 bid for Ebbsfleet’s 12-goal forward Michael Gash, which has also been put to an internet vote.

He said: “A bid has gone in from somebody, but I don’t think they’ll agree to that either.

“I couldn’t say if the offer came from us because Martin has been negotiating while he’s been on holiday as well.”

Porter did, though, add that the wage budget Foyle and himself have been handed this summer permitted some scope to pay modest transfer fees.

“We’ve got to spend it wisely,” he said. “But we’ve been given a figure and are moving it around a bit by getting rid of a few players and bringing others in.”

The City coach also stressed that he expects to hear confirmation from Ben Purkiss and Onome Sodje on the extension offers to their contracts by the middle of next week.

He said: “We should find out by then because the 28 days since the offers were made will be up.

“We haven’t heard anything from Sodje but have had a chat with Ben and he seems to feel we are moving in the right direction and is happy with the way we are getting players in. We’re just waiting on a final yes or no from him.”

Free agents Shaun Pejic and Mark Greaves have not been offered new contracts for next season as yet but Porter admitted that the door had still not been closed on their KitKat Crescent futures.

He added: “Shaun was going to America but I think playing for us whetted his appetite for the game in this country again because he had grown disillusioned.”