Instead Shepherd is in a board meeting, while chief operating officer Russell Cushing is on holiday and the club is refusing to make any official comment about Kluivert.
Indeed the press appear to be divided on the issue with the Press Association claiming that sources in the club have told them that there is no interest in signing the Holland international, while the BBC report the opposite.
One thing is known though and that is that Kluivert is on holiday and hasn’t yet informed Barcelona whether or not he is prepared to stay after the club slashed his wages.
Should the interest be genuine we will undoubtedly face competition from most of the top Premiership clubs, including a newly wealthy Chelsea, as despite his wages most managers would be unable to resist the opportunity of signing one of Europe’s top players for just £1.2million.