Town defender Adam Webster is doing his best to ignore transfer speculation linking him with a move to the Premier League.

National newspapers have reported that both Sunderland and Everton have been monitoring Webster this season with a view to launching multi-million pound bids to secure his services in the January transfer window.

But Webster, who only joined Town from Portsmouth in a £700,000 move last summer which also saw Blues youngster Matt Clarke move in the opposite direction, said: “I don’t really take much notice of any of that stuff. I just want to focus on my football and let that do the talking.

“I see myself here long term. My loyalties lie with Ipswich, I’m an Ipswich player and I’m not focused on any other speculation. There’s always going to be speculation with players playing week in, week out.

“But it’s just the media. Every player gets speculation, no matter who they are, so you can’t look into that. You’ve just got to keep your head down and play your football.”

However, interest from the top flight would be no surprise to Town boss Mick McCarthy, who has already labelled his 22-year-old as a future Premier League player.

But Webster added: “I’m still proving that I can play at this level before even thinking about moving anywhere else. I’m not thinking about anything like that, just focusing on my football.”

Pompey will be keeping a keen eye on their former player's situation with the League Two club due 20 per cent of the profit if and when he moves on.

Meanwhile, Webster is hoping he will line up against non-league Lincoln in tomorrow’s FA Cup third round clash at Portman Road.

McCarthy has often been known to rest regular first-teamers for cup-ties but Webster said: “I want to play as much as I can. Obviously, it will be a difficult game against Lincoln. They are doing very well in their league and they will feel they have nothing to lose, so it will be a tough one. But I definitely want to play in the game — and I want to play as much as possible.

“I played at the same stage of the competition last season when I was at Portsmouth and we came out of the hat with Ipswich. We saw it as a good chance as lower-league players to show what we could do against a higher standard of opposition.

“No doubt the Lincoln players will be feeling the same way. They will be up for it and it will be like a cup final for them.”
Webster recalled how Pompey secured a draw at Portman Road 12 months ago and then won the replay at Fratton Park to earn a fourth round home clash with Premier League opposition in Bournemouth.

Ex-Town winger Gary Roberts gave the League Two club the lead just before half-time but the Cherries hit back to win 2-1 and Webster added: “I don’t think the gaffer was too worried if we won or lost. It would have been nice to have won and get another big club but he didn’t mind us losing at that stage because of the backlog of games.

“That’s probably why the build-up to the game here last year was so relaxed and I can see it being the same for Lincoln.”

Photo: TWTD

Suffolk_n_Good added 07:01 - Jan 6 Great potential, but don't think he's up to sitting on a Premier League bench just yet, another season of Championship experience is needed, think he will make it to the summit of football, don't doubt that.
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BrettenhamBlue added 07:06 - Jan 6 Everton have just spent 11M on that league 1 forward. How much is Webster worth in today's market?
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Bluebell added 07:59 - Jan 6 "My loyalties lie with Ipswich, I'm an Ipswich player and I'm not focused on any other speculation." He is a great player and I can understand the speculation but hope Mick and ME are focused on keeping him and letting him develop at Town. That way, when he is ready for Prem football it can either be with Ipswich (wishful thinking maybe!) or we can get a lot more money for him!

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pedlimblue added 09:32 - Jan 6 I would seem odd for him to move on after only having played half a season of Championship football; it cant do his career progression any good for escalating his career level so quickly. When you look at some of our most successful players to progress up the lagues they have enjoyed a good stint with us, and have gotten used to the league and their own style of play - Aaron Cresswell and Jon Walters are good examples of that. At 22 years old he is either going to warm a premier league team's bench and then go back out on loan over and over again or he will be put in a team too soon and his confidence shot to pieces. If we do have to sell him then you would expect a decent fee - he must a a fair bit of time left under his contract. Perhaps we should be trying to sell him to the Chinese Premier League!!

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Seasider added 12:28 - Jan 6 Agree pedlimblue,with a couple of exceptions;as I feel that both Jordan Rhodes and Connor Wickham were sold too soon,for us fans liking. Hope Adam's two recent bloopers,may have cooled the current interest in him.
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martin587 added 13:15 - Jan 6 It would be a big lose if we were to sell him as he has all the attributes to become a very good player.He has settled in very well at the club and we must except he will make mistakes,but that is all about learning at a higher lever (said with tongue in cheek) !! If he were to leave then the club should demand a large fee due to his age and talent.Having said that I doubt the money would be ploughed back into the club. Would rather we off-loaded some of the dead wood in the squad first.!!

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righty added 17:30 - Jan 6 Sell him so Evans can put the money where all other transfer fees gone and sell anyone else if there is anyone worth any money
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