CITY have been knocked back in a bid to sign Will Grigg.

The Telegraph & Argus understands that the club tabled an offer for the highly sought-after Sunderland striker as they chase a replacement for James Vaughan.

But Grigg turned it down because he does not want to drop into League Two.

The Northern Ireland international, who joined the Black Cats a year ago from Wigan for a deal worth up to £4 million, was also wanted by Salford.

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Former Bantams boss Phil Parkinson was prepared to let Grigg go out on loan providing he can bring in another striker first.

But Grigg, who has scored eight goals in 48 appearances on Wearside, has made it clear that he is not prepared to step down a level.

It is a blow for City who felt they had a chance of making a statement capture to take over from Vaughan and Eoin Doyle, who is expected to re-join Swindon before the window shuts on Friday night.

An offer was made by the League Two leaders on Tuesday but the deal has not been completed as yet.

Swindon forward Kaiyne Woolery has been strongly linked with City as part of that, although Gary Bowyer has refused to comment.

“He’s a Swindon Town player so I won’t talk about him,” he said after the Cheltenham game.

City will receive a nominal fee from Tranmere after Vaughan completed his loan move, which was first revealed by the T&A online.

The Bantams’ top scorer has joined the League One club for the rest of the season. He still has two more years to run on his contract at Valley Parade.

The clock is ticking as City attempt to bring in at least one new face up front and names continue to be discussed.

Bowyer said: “Everybody is looking but it has to be the right individual. It has to be an individual who fits in with the group and how they are.

“We had Omari Patrick on the bench (against Cheltenham) and I’d looked at introducing him back into it. He’s looked sharp since he’s come back from his loan.

“But obviously the sending off dictated the substitutions then and we had to do it different when Kelvin Mellor went off.”

Meanwhile, Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony, answering a fan’s question on Twitter, said that City didn’t want to sign on-loan midfielder Callum Cooke on a permanent deal.

But the club are believed to be comfortable with the current scenario, where they are thought to be paying about half of his wages, and plan to look at it again at the end of the season.

A report also surfaced that Dylan Connolly is being targeted by MLS clubs in America, although City have had no contact from his parent club Wimbledon who would have to recall him first.

It is also possible that the timescale to bring him back has passed.