Crystal Palace midfielder Ben Watson could move to Portman Road as part of the deal which will see Alan Lee join the Eagles, according to one of this morning's tabloids. Lee is widely reported to be closing in on his switch to Selhurst Park.

While a fee of £600,000 plus add-ons has previously been mentioned for Lee, reports this morning claim the Blues want to bring Watson to Suffolk with Lee and £1.5 million going to Palace.

Watson, 23, came through the youth system at Palace and has been a regular in their side for the last three seasons, having made his debut in 2002/03.

Capped twice by the England U21s, Watson has the ability to send in a decent set piece and has been linked with Nottingham Forest, QPR and Birmingham this summer.

Watson, who has made 143 starts and 28 sub appearances for Palace, scoring 15 goals, has a year left on his current contract.

Meanwhile, reports in Liverpool again claim that Jon Walters has handed in a transfer request to the Blues. Walters is believed to be keen on a move nearer to his family in the North-West.

According today's reports, West Brom have joined Stoke in targeting the former Chester City man.

Town's move for Shola Ameobi looks less and less likely to take place with Newcastle reportedly keen that the Blues commit to making the move a permanent one in January. After a medical detected a hamstring problem, Town looked to take the former England U21 international on an initial loan spell.

The Blues would almost certainly have had to pay the Magpies a loan fee, as they will to Fulham for Moritz Volz, but it appears Newcastle want assurances that a permanent deal will be done in January once Ameobi has proved his fitness.

Over the weekend Kevin Keegan appeared to indicate the move was off when he said Ameobi was back in his plans at St James' Park.

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