Taylor 'ship has sailed' for Lincoln - George

Joe Taylor helped Luton seal promotion to the Premier League in 2023

Lincoln City director of football Jez George says "the ship has sailed" on them being able to re-sign striker Joe Taylor from Luton Town.

The 22-year-old scored 10 goals in 19 League One appearances on loan at the Imps last season, and returned to Lincoln to watch his former side against Northampton in October.

While Taylor has played for Luton in the Championship this season, he has featured just 10 times off the bench and failed to find the back of the net.

When asked if bringing Taylor back to play for Lincoln was a possibility, George said the Imps had been priced out of any potential deal.

"I think Joe has moved beyond us unless someone has three, four or five million pounds they want to drop into Lincoln City's bank account in the next couple of days," George told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

"The truth is that ship has sailed - that is the reality. Luton are looking now at potentially maybe a permanent [move], and that would be a million miles out of our sphere in terms of what we could do in terms of transfer fee and wages."

George said Taylor was a transfer target in the summer after his impressive five-month spell last term.

Instead they brought in Sheffield Wednesday's Bailey Cadamarteri on loan, and the forward has scored seven goals in 23 appearances for Lincoln.

"In the summer we were in talks with Joe and we were speaking to his representative and Luton, and then it became apparent that financially we were going to be blown out of the water should Joe be allowed to go out on loan," George said.

"And we pivoted quickly and we think we signed someone who is the best available forward for his type on a loan in the summer, which is Bailey. And we are still convinced that Bailey can score loads of goals for us and I'm sure he will do that in the second half of the season."