BARROW AFC were willing to smash their club record transfer fee for Margate striker Freddie Ladapo.

The club put in two bids for the 22-year-old National League South hitman, only to have both rejected by the Kent club.

Bluebirds owner Paul Casson would not confirm the exact details of the offers, but it would have eclipsed the £11,000 paid for Neil Morton in 1995 by some distance as well the undisclosed payment for Anthony Wilson two years ago – believed to have been more than £20,000.

Margate, however, are believed to have been looking for close to six figures, with Barrow not willing to go that high in their pursuit.

“We were going to push the boat out for him,” said Casson. “We thought if we could get Cooky to play with somebody with pace and power and then also with Jordan Williams behind them, it would be difficult to stop.

“We asked what it would take and we offered some incentives, but they wanted more up front. We thought the first offer was pretty good for them.

“We went in with more and they rejected that as well and I think, at the end of the day, they didn’t want to let him go.

“They will keep him until the end of the year and they will get some compensation for him. If he keeps scoring goals for them between now and the end of the season, then I’m sure that compensation price will go up.

“If he still looks good, maybe we will go for him in the summer again, because he’s one of those players who people think could be a star.”

AFC were not the only club interested in securing Ladapo’s services during the transfer window.

Peterborough United are also believed to have had two bids rejected, while an unnamed National League side had an offer accepted, only for the former Colchester United man to decline the move.

Casson confirmed Barrow’s two deadline day targets eluded the club, with Barnsley front man Harry White joining National League rivals Kidderminster Harriers and Lincoln City not keen to let previous Holker Street loan man Liam Hearn go for a second time.

“The two we were going after didn’t work out,” said Casson, who is in the middle of a 10-day stay in England, which sees him watch Barrow in action three times. “We thought we had Harry, but he ended up going to Kidderminster.

“At the end of the day, unless the players were measurably going to improve what we had, we just weren’t going there.

“We made that mistake last year in the transfer window, when we went out and we signed a whole bunch of players – Karl Ledsham and Lewis Guy – and at the end of the day, they didn’t really contribute much.”

He added on the quest to add a new front man, which dominated Barrow’s transfer window: “Our one Achilles heel at the moment, which we have no cover for, is Andy Cook. That was what we were searching for, cover for him.

“He’s playing very well at the moment and, if something happened to him, we would really be scrambling around.

“The loan window opens again on Monday and that was where we were looking mostly anyway.

“It’s not like it’s a disaster and we will keep on looking.”