I wouldn't be at all surprised if the last minute transfer request was a tactic by his agent. The club were making it very clear they didn't want to sell and at that stage there was absolutely no indication that Dale wanted to leave, other than the jumping to conclusions merchants on here. As...
If we've turned down 5 bids, the 5th being quite a bit of a jump from the fourth, not only does this say we want to keep him but, more importantly and despite what quite a few on here seem to think (or even claim to know) is the situation, Stephens clearly does NOT want to go, at least not now...