Town are reported to be keen to sign Northern Ireland international striker Kyle Lafferty, who is a free agent following his release by Norwich City.

According to various national newspapers here and in Ireland, Blues boss Mick McCarthy wants to bring the 29-year-old to Portman Road to partner Joe Garner, whose £1 million move from Rangers was confirmed on Friday.

Lafferty left Carrow Road at the end of the season after three years in which he made only 14 starts and 25 sub appearances, scoring four goals. While with the Canaries he spent time on loan with Turkish side Caykur Rizespor and Birmingham City.

The Enniskillen-born frontman began his career with Burnley - during which time he was loaned to Darlington - before moving on to Rangers for £3 million in June 2008. While at Ibrox he netted 38 goals in 86 starts and 51 games from the bench.

Capped 62 times for Northern Ireland, scoring 20 goals, 6ft 4in tall Lafferty moved on to Swiss side Sion on a free transfer in June 2012, then Palermo a year later before joining Norwich the following summer.

Edinburgh sides Hearts and Hibs are also reported to be interested in signing Lafferty this summer, along with Azerbaijan champions Qarabag.

Town, who would almost certainly be in a position to make a bigger contract offer than those three clubs, have been mentioned in connection with Lafferty on a number of occasions over the years going back to Jim Magilton’s time in charge at Portman Road.

During his time with Burnley he scored a memorable goal at Portman Road in a 1-1 draw in December 2006.

While Lafferty’s Norwich City past would be controversial among fans, manager McCarthy is a long-time admirer having tried to sign him when Wolves boss but lost out to Rangers.

Photo: Action Images

Blue_Again added 23:45 - Jun 17 Shouldn't we be buying defenders as well seeing as we couldn't keep a clean sheet for Shiite last season
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GiveusaWave added 23:45 - Jun 17 Generally did well at International level, but his club form has never matched that. Even though he's an ex-budgie, personally wouldn't mind giving him a shot.
12

bigolconnor added 00:13 - Jun 18 goes with the Mick ethos. shame to lose Sears to the wing again. it does look as though we are going much more attacking this season though. tunnicliffe is a strong attack minded midfielder as well. decent squad building if we keep Bartos. chambers, webster, smith, Taylor?, emmanuel, knudsen, kenlock, spence. bishop,dozzell, ward, skuse, tunnicliffe?, bru (i'd still like him to stay) celina, sears, mcgoldrick, lafferty? garner, patterson. it kind of seems like we are going to try wingback and wingers overlapping with a target man and goal poacher playing off each other. anyway i'm still excited at the start of every season since i saw klinsman playing at portman road

4

BlueandTruesince82 added 00:27 - Jun 18 Eff off. Rubbish player and disruptive
-8

ScottCandage added 00:53 - Jun 18 This should go over well...
3

hoppy added 01:11 - Jun 18 Ticks the "During his time with Burnley he scored a memorable goal at Portman Road..." box, so I expect that's enough to make this happen...
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Brownie added 05:01 - Jun 18 No...,
6

battyblue added 06:10 - Jun 18 Another young player to fit Marcus Evans five point plan sh!t.McCarthy out still the same always will be, another dismal season approaches.
9

LimitlessBlue added 06:31 - Jun 18 bloody hell!! no thank you.
3

nthstd added 06:38 - Jun 18 For god and tayto. Kyle Lafferty Kyle lafferty he's 7 foot and he plays the flute kyle lafferty. Get in the big man. For all the Mick "Lovers" the big man's a class target and with only 40 hours of competitive football in any league, over 2 or 3 seasons, he helped the mighty NI qualify for France and played a key part in us exiting the group stages. He has continues the professional approach as NI are second in thier group omly to Germany. His reputation with women is another matter.

5

ArnieM added 06:47 - Jun 18 He's utter dross and an ex Budgie. NO. THANKS !
2

midastouch added 07:11 - Jun 18 Hear Me Out On This One... Having the misfortune of living in the enemy's backyard I know more than I would like to about Naaaaaaridge, especially given my mum and dad buy the crappy EDP so whenever I visit them I often have a look at the scum-infested rag (it's still better than watching Country File!) and find out what the enemy are plotting! Think of me as our spy behind enemy lines! Also, I know lots of Norwich fans who always target me when they win on a Saturday and we lose, I have to spend lots of weekends in hiding round these parts! I even sometimes get calls after they come out of Carrot Road and I can hear them all singing down the phone, I've since learned the phone goes off at 4.45pm if things are looking grim! :-) So where is this all going... Some of my budgie friends (if I can call them that!) actually rated this guy and were frustrated that Alex Neil never played him. One of them told me that he came on against Leeds late (and the Budgies were mostly thrilled to see him given a chance) and soon equalised and apparently looked a real menace. But then I believe Leeds won it with a late injury time wonder goal long strike! Thinking about it, I remember seeing it on the television and enjoying it nearly as much as one of our own goals! I've only seen him play for N.I. and he did very well in the Euro qualifying. But he hasn't done much at club level so not sure if he would here. All I do know is this, if we did get him and he did start to fire in the goals it would really piss off the Norwich fans, and just for that I think it would be a risk worth taking as I'd very much enjoy that living round these parts lol! ;-)

20

RobITFC added 08:00 - Jun 18 I would be very happy with this , he deserves a chance and not bothered if he played for Norwich , if he is here, it is because he wants to be and believe he could be a great option for us up front. does not bode well for likes of Kieffer Moore though!
9

Cakeman added 08:22 - Jun 18 I recall his form at Burnley was good. Always looked a handful. Seems to have lost his way over recent seasons and was certainly left out in the cold carrot fields of Norwich. Given a chance to start games on a regular basis then maybe he could be a suitable option. He certainly has a good deal of skill and would fit into to the target man role that we have badly missed. Just as RobITFC says, I too am not bothered that he is ex Norwich.

8

Currie10 added 08:28 - Jun 18 Better than what we have, so a yes from me.
7

kingy4978 added 08:48 - Jun 18 i think it's defo worth a punt. Norwich fans liked him and how good would it be for him to score the winner against them this season to put two fingers up.
6

leftie1972 added 08:55 - Jun 18 'The Gangle Machine'. Why not, he could still be a handful around the box, from long throws and corners. Scummers loss could be our gain!
4

planetblue_2011 added 09:13 - Jun 18 Think he could be a good signing! Mick wants to partner him up with Garner it could work. What about McGoldrick & Sears? McGoldrick could play behind the strikers & Sears wide, depending on Micks formation. Think this summer is gonna be interesting.
3

Gipeswic added 09:24 - Jun 18 Other clubs are interested in KL "...but they are unable to compete financially with Ipswich" according to the Mail Online!!!
2

tractorshark added 09:32 - Jun 18 Anyone who doesn't want Lafferty for being ex-Norwich is a moron. By all means question his ability and his strike rate but not his links to a previous club. If he joins us, I'll be pleased. He's a good player, has a point to prove and his missus is stunning. Don't let this ex-Norwich nonsense cloud your opinion until you've seen him play in a blue shirt.
7

JohnyJohnson added 09:34 - Jun 18 While im usually against ex budgies I would not say no to this one, he is a good player with something to proove. I can see him scoring a hat trick against Norwich this season, he will be fired up to proove his worth against a team that didnt play him. We also have decent strikers as alternatives. Just hope fans dont get on his back too much and lose us points by making him edgy. If he does sign he needs backing. More signings please...

3

marcusevans added 09:35 - Jun 18 McGoldrick must be going.....................
0

StokeHigh97 added 09:41 - Jun 18 If you can get the Kyle Lafferty that plays for N:Ireland great: I don't have any issue that he is a former Norwich player: if he scored the winner at Carrow Rd next season he would become a cult hero: if this is true he can't be worse than Andy Marshall that was a disaster!
3

Mark added 09:55 - Jun 18 Part of me likes the idea, an international striker on a free transfer, not yet 30, 6ft4 tall, could be the proper we have missed since Murphy, and has to be a better option than Moore. I remember Norwich fans moaning about Neill on their forums for not giving Lafferty more of a chance. Part of me worries that if McCarthy plans to pair him with Garner then neither of our strikers will have records of scoring goals at Championship level, both will soon be 30, and Marcus Evan's 5-point plan 'To make annual investment funds available to purchase players in the early stages of their career and to assist in their development' feels like it is being ignored. On balance, I would take him so long as we make some younger signings too.

5

blue75 added 09:58 - Jun 18 Not sure he'd be anywhere near good enough to replace Murphy.
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