Colchester United have accepted an offer from Second Division rivals Cardiff City for contract rebel David Greene.

Greene has been on Cardiff's shortlist for some time and he could find himself travelling to meet manager Frank Burrows and his backroom team before the end of the week.

U's chairman Peter Heard agreed a fee with the Welsh club for the former Eire Under 21 international after talks with opposite number Samesh Kumar.

The U's are thought to have accepted a bid in the region of £30,000 for the transer-listed defender and are now waiting for written confirmation from Burrows.

Greene, 26, has so far refused to sign a new two-and-a-half year deal at Layer Road -- even though it would make him one of the highest-paid players at the club.

His current contract runs out at the end of the season and he will be free to leave Layer Road on a Bosman-free transfer when it expires in the summer.

Cardiff turned their attentions to Greene when a move for Manchester City defender Tony Vaughan fell through over the player's £4,000-a-week wage demands.

Vaughan, 24, who began his career at Ipswich Town, refused to take a pay cut and last night agreed a one-month loan move to Norwich City.

U's boss Steve Whitton confirmed: "The ball is in Cardiff's court but nothing has happened other than an agreement between the clubs.

"Once we get a formal, written offer for David Greene he will be allowed to travel down to Wales for talks with their manager and to have a look round.

"Our situation hasn't changed. We still want him to stay at Colchester but unless he signs a new contract he will be allowed to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season."

Any move for Greene would mean U's chief Whitton having to move quickly in the transfer market to replace him. The U's would be desperately short of defensive cover if he leaves before the end of the month.

Richard Wilkins and Aaron Skelton are only just returning from injury and are not yet fully match-fit.

On-loan Titus Bramble returns to Ipswich after the U's game at Reading on Saturday and Ross Johnson, another temporary signing, has yet to be offered a permanent deal.

But Whitton has a number of transfer targets, including Ipswich defender Adam Tanner.

The 26-year-old has been made available on a free transfer by George Burley after being convicted of a drink-driving offence.

Whitton is planning to watch Tanner, who faces a prison sentence, play for Town's reserves tomorrow.

Another possibility is Luton centre-half Alan White, who impressed Whitton while on loan at Layer Road in December.

An openmeeting for U's fans to discuss ways to help the club will be held in the Boardroom, Colchester Institute, in Sheepen Road, tonight at 7.30pm.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.