Bristol City boss Keith Millen says he’s hopeful of signing Town striker Jon Stead. The Robins have been chasing the 27-year-old for some weeks now and have agreed a £225,000 fee with the Blues.

Millen said: "He's someone we've been looking to sign for a while and it looks like we are close now. We hope to conclude a deal early next week."

Town manager Roy Keane confirmed that Bristol City’s bid had been accepted after Saturday’s 2-1 win at Crystal Palace and said that there could be news before Monday.

However, Stead is unlikely to leave before the Blues have signed a new striker with the club short on attacking players at present with Connor Wickham injured, Jon Walters and Pablo Couñago moved on and Andros Townsend facing a three-match ban for his sending off.

Keane says he is targeting two attacking players, including Wigan’s Jason Scotland, whose move has been put on hold by the Latics, a defender and a midfielder.

Meanwhile, Jon Walters, who made his debut for Stoke today, says he's not interested in contiuning his row with Town boss Roy Keane: “I’m not looking for a slanging match, even though the things that were said were not wholly true.

“It doesn’t fuss me one way or the other. I don’t mind what Mr Keane says or will say. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Ipswich and have a lot of friends at the club and in the area.

“It’s a wrench to leave in terms of that, but now I’m looking forward to the challenge of doing well at Stoke.”

Photo: Action Images

Back_The_Boss added 08:48 - Aug 22 I just don't get why we are selling him, good player who gives more than 100% every game.
0

Fatcatevans added 09:29 - Aug 22 i was wholeheartedly agreeing with you Ipswich24 until you used the words Thetis and gems in the same posting!
0

itfc1981 added 09:35 - Aug 22 a disgrace! he worth at least 600k
0

jas0999 added 09:46 - Aug 22 Just read a quote from Roy which says this is out of his hands.
0

haynes_is_a_ledgend added 09:49 - Aug 22 Thats just to cheap
0

Karlosfandangal added 09:50 - Aug 22 Ipswich can afford to keep Stead of that there is no doubt. However he does not really fit in To Keanes plans Priskin and Stead are very similar players and Keane prefers Priskin. If we do sign two new strikers and when Wickham is fit plus Priskin, Stead will be number 5 in the pecking order, so the loss of his wages will help pay for one of the new strikers ie: if Stead is on 12k and Scotland wants say 18k its not a huge drain on the clubs wage bill. The clubs wage bill was reported to have gone from 5 Million a year to 14 million in the time ME has been here. If we are to bring in players who are better than we have we will have to pay higher wages so to get rid of players who will only warm the bench at best makes perfect sense. 600K a year just to play reserve team football is alot of money. Stead has played well so far this season but 1 goal in 4 games compared to edwards 1 in 2 games or Priskin 1 in 3 games. Stead is not the player to get us Prem football.

0

tractaboy added 11:08 - Aug 22 Really can't work this out. Guy's got to be worth 750k+. So we're letting one of our best players go for a song to a championship rival, and could possibly play AGAINST us on Saturday. Like others have said, i would reallylike to hear more from Glegg.It's ok having one recluse in charge of the club but no 2! Come on Cleggy, meet the fans, lets hear what you and Mr Evans actually want for this club and your reasons behind the Stead sale. KLeane is doing whats been asked of him this season. Thing are looking up so far so lets push the club forward. At least Sheepy skope to the fans and got involved. Think Mr Clegg takes himself too seriously.

0

cphtractor added 12:22 - Aug 22 Apart from Walters sale all the offers Clegg and Evans accept are ridiculously low.
0

StowTractorBoy added 12:30 - Aug 22 Can't quite understand the furore over the departure of Stead. Most were lambasting him last season for not scoring enough goals and not being able to head a ball and needing a train turntable to control the ball. Don't get me wrong I love the bloke and his attitude has been fantastic during this period of uncertainty for him. It is clear to me however that his wages are the stumbling block at ITFC and Keane has to release his wages to pay for the imcumbent striker whoever it may be. If it is Chopra as reported Sunday then we cannot complain. The comments against Clegg on here are also unfair and to suggest we will settle for mid table mediocrity is ludicrous in the extreme. It seems to me that even when we are flying high Ipswich supporters like to be negative. Let Clegg Evans and Keane to do the job and see what happens.

0

slowerball added 13:26 - Aug 22 Good bye. He's okay at best - has had some decent games...
0

yorksblue added 16:17 - Aug 22 £225k. Bosses need to get away from the VIP bars, sober up, get into the real world and stop giving our players away. So he's depreciated by half a million in his time here. I don't think so.
0

robdaful added 17:30 - Aug 22 I don't know why we don't keep Stead and get rid of Priskin. They are both on high wages but I know that I'd prefer Stead than Priskin any day. When Priskin is on the pitch I don't feel like we are a goal threat. And I don't see him doing anything that I can give him praise for. Keep Stead and flog Priskin!!!!!!
0

_Mhs_ added 18:17 - Aug 22 robdaful; if only it was that easy! i cant see why any team would be interested in priskin at the moment. i don't know much about clegg, but from this evidence he seems to not be the most shrewd business man. This stead business is pretty tricky, we could negotiate the offer but that could mean they lose interest in him and then we're stuck with his wages, or we could sell him for 225k and lose a player to a potential rival team for a fee which frankly isn't even half of what he's worth playing in this form. I personally would delay the deal until we bring in scotland. I hate to say it but with scotland here i dont think it would make a difference losing stead.

0

Seasider added 20:08 - Aug 22 Dont think posters will find that ITFC asking much less than Steady reportedly cost us two years ago;but certainly feels he is worth more ,however presume club have not received any bids that are substantially higher,mind you Alan Quinn was reported as costing £400k and we cant give him away!!!
0

ThatMuhrenCross added 21:15 - Aug 22 I'd consider selling him... if the offer on the table matched the £1.25m we paid for him. However, it doesn't, and he is by no means a lesser player than he was back then. So, in the wake of a great business deal (selling Walters for upwards of £3m), we are about to go ahead with perhaps the most barmy business deal of the entire century. I've had lesser bargains in Sports Direct!! And, of course there is the heart over head issue as well. But if I were to look at it that way (from both mine, and fellow ITFC fans' perspectives), I wouldn't even sell him for £3m!!!

0

rosseden added 21:37 - Aug 22 do people not actually get the finacials of signing players..... an agent will maximise his clients revenue by breaking down the request into a smaller amount, i.e. £15k a week. If he said i want £9.4 million please (yes, thats what a 3 year contract of a player on £15k a week with a £4m fee will cost us!) then hes not going to get much support from the average person. the club will be running on a budget over a fixed term (the contract term) so a 3 year deal, for Stead, on £12k p.w. to Bristol City, will be £225k + £1872k in wages. So thats just over £2m over 3 years. THATS WHY HES WORTH £225k NOW!! If we were paying him £6k per week id expect the fee to be about £750k to £1m. Then again, if he was on £6k p.w i dont think we'd sell him..... Everyone gets really caught up in the fee and per week numbers associated to players, but ME / SC / RK are working to a longer term plan and a serious financial plan / budget / annual operating plan / call it whatever you want, so we dont end up in the sh1te like Cardiff / Hull / Pompey / Leeds & numerous other clubs. Thats why Cardiff / Hull / Pompey / Palarse are signing low fee players on higher wages, they are mortgaging tomorrows problems to the year after or the year after that. Once down that road its very hard to get back...... I'll stick with the sustainable plan cheers........

0

denhamblue added 22:05 - Aug 22 um this is a concern,if were going back for chopra,eg eggs in one basket.I just hope if we dont get him,we have no options left,as its obvious the scotland thing is dying a death.
0

Happy2bBlue added 01:06 - Aug 23 No to Chopra at 4m, yes to scotland at 750k and yes to McCormack for 300K. Yes also to Nicky Butt on a one year contract as support and cover for Hyam. This covers the positions we are short without breaking the bank.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls