How Howson Press release should read

"The club has been in discussions with the player about a new contract for more than 12 months. We offered to extend his contract by another 6 months on his current pay structure which would enable us to see if we could find someone cheaper to replace Jonny, but he has been steadfast in his position that he would like the opportunity to play Premier League football and on that basis Leeds felt we weren't in a position to commit ourselves to the same level of ambitions as Jonny"