SID Taylor said he hopes Charlie Young stays at Helston Athletic despite an offer from St Austell – but admitted the riches at Poltair Park may win the battle.

The 22-year-old is at the centre of a transfer bid from the reigning South West Peninsula League Premier champions who are interested in adding the midfielder to their talented squad.

Lillywhites boss Phil Lafferty first contacted Taylor about signing Young earlier this month and the Blues’ manager told the Packet talks are ongoing.

Last season, Young was a key component to Athletic in their historic promotion from the West Division and Taylor said in an ideal world he would remain with the club, but appreciates the offer might be “too good to turn down”.

Taylor said: “Phil told me the club were interested in bring Charlie into their squad and they have made him an attractive offer.

“Obviously one of our former players Liam Eddy is there and he is friends with Charlie and the club has been trying to paint themselves as greener than green to Charlie, so you can see why he might go.

“He has been with us for a four or five seasons and he is a big player for us, so I hope he does look at what’s going on and decides to stay with his local club where his mates are.

“But I am having to work with a small budget here and St Austell have a different style of management where they can simply throw money at whoever they want, which we can’t compete with.”

Last week, as reported by the Packet, it was confirmed striker Andrew Westgarth had agreed a deal which will see him return to Falmouth Town after spending a season with Athletic.

His departure was described by Taylor as a “shame”, but a decision he had no annoyance about.

“Andrew didn’t get as much game time as he probably hoped for,” he said.

“But it is a squad game and Andrew really strengthened our squad and helped us achieve what we did.

“I totally understand why he has gone back to Falmouth as he lives in the town and it suits him better at this moment of time and I wish him the best for the future.”

Taylor went onto say he is currently chatting to five players about joining the Blues, although he did not want to reveal who any of them were.

He said all have experience of the SWPL Premier or higher level football and hopes the new facilities coming to Kellaway Park, which are due to be completed by the end of July, will entice them in.

“I prefer to keep a low profile in the transfer market at this time of year because there’s so much hype that goes around,” Taylor said.

“I’ve been talking to a group of five players with an eye of possibly bringing in a couple for pre-season training and taking it from there.

“Next season is going to be a massive one for us and obviously with the improvements we are making to the ground, we can show players we have one of the best grounds in Cornwall and that will only make us more attractive to join.”