TWTD understands that Town are close to completing the loan signing of Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard. The 32-year-old is expected at Portman Road today and looks likely to be reunited with his former Wigan boss Paul Jewell in the next few days.

Sources at Hull City confirmed Town’s interest in the ex-West Ham, Peterborough and Fulham man earlier in the week with the Tigers desperate to off-loan the 32-year-old’s £45,000-a-week wage.

As with previous loan deals involving players on Premier League wages, such as last season’s recruitment of Daryl Murphy and David Healy, Town are likely to have agreed to pay only a proportion of the Londoner’s salary.

Bullard joined Hull from Fulham for £5 million during the Tigers’ stint in the Premier League and is contracted until 2013.

Speaking after last night's game at Arsenal, chief executive Simon Clegg was typically taciturn regarding transfer speculation but told TWTD that the first deals of the transfer window were close: “I think that we are near to a couple of situations and I would expect people to be hearing some movement on what our intentions are over the next couple of days.”

Earlier in the week, manager Paul Jewell revealed that the club had made two bids with Bullard and Luton's Andy Drury likely to be the players involved.

Photo: Action Images

tractor_boy_varnz added 15:41 - Jan 26 Cracking signing if we can pull of a deal! His delivery is class which would releave leadbitter of taking corners!! Hahah he is the type of midfeilder we need!! And I guess if the two bids were for drury and bullard, edwards will fill in at right back for the rest of the season??
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TractorBoyOlly added 15:51 - Jan 26 What I don't understand is if we can't afford Norris' demands how on earth can we afford Bullard?
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casanovacrow added 15:54 - Jan 26 @TractorBoyOlly Spot on, someone who get's it
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readtheleaguetable added 15:59 - Jan 26 Not sure the two ofyou DO get it actually. I think the issue with Norris is more likely to be length of contract than a Bullard-like wage demand.
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Surco72 added 16:07 - Jan 26 No one has said we cannot afford Norris' wage demands perhaps the club just dont value him the same way his agent or himself does ?No one knows what Norris is demanding could be anything ? Also no one knows what Bullard will cost ? It is all pie in the sky that we do not need to worry about as supporters ,all i care about is that a fit Bullard will add a lot to the team during a game if the club think they can afford the deal ,great .If he gets injured or doesnt perform back he goes ,its very simple

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JayT added 16:24 - Jan 26 Would be a good singning and did anyone realise that Nathan Tyson ( at Notts. Forest) is out of contract in the summer and hasnt been offered a new deal?
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Seasider added 16:32 - Jan 26 If we are looking to sign sick notes,hows about our Keiran.Notice with less than a week of window left,Evans hasn't paid out a penny yet!Talk is cheap,hope he isn't going skint.
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Tillz9 added 16:34 - Jan 26 Would be a quality signing if he stays fit. Is a top player at this level and having worked with Jewell before they know eachother which is good. Would still very much like another striker , rb. Does anyone know much about Drury from Luton- hadn't heard of him before we were linked with him ??
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Karlosfandangal added 16:51 - Jan 26 i would say that Evans and Clegg have got some idea of the players that Keane wanted to keep out of the 21 out of contract. They will now give Jewell a bit of time to do the same and I would not be surprised if Jewell already have told them who he wants. Out of the 21 out of contract (IMO) about 10 of them could leave, Just a rough guess but based on the wage bill of last year and the ammount of 1st team pros the average wage is about 8k a week. This would mean that 10 leaving the club would save Ipswich just over £4 Miliion, if the club offerd Bullard 30k a week he would earn just over £1.5 Million a year If we were to sign him on a perminent deal. So I cant see where Norris's wage demand are an issue if he is not asking for silly money and the same must be said for McAuley. If we cant afford Norris and McAuley then we surly cant afford Bullard as they would not be asking for wages in that bracket

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Walk_the_Wark added 16:58 - Jan 26 No thanks...
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jas0999 added 17:13 - Jan 26 Very difficult this one. On the one hand there is no doubting he is a good player and would probably be a good addition to the squad ... but at what cost? Although I suspect we will only pay a percentage of his wage, I am not sure what impact a £45K a week player will have on a squad who's top earnings are probably £15K tops. Remember Serini and George - caused squad unrest. I suspect Hull will want to recoup a large percentage of this wages - possibly 50%. Then an even bigger issue - he is injury prone. Very injury prone.Is he even match fit?Can we afford to have a player on such a big wage who may only play 25% of our remaining games - yet IF he did stay fit what an asset he may be ... In conclusion it's a huge risk in my opinion - but that's what Jewell is paid for. He must know what he's doing. p.s. whatever Jewell says, if Norris/McAuley refuse to sign new deals, they might have to go regardless of whether the manager wants to keep them.

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LollITFC added 17:16 - Jan 26 Norris has only started playing well in recent weeks as he is looking for a new deal, probably from someone willing to pay more than us, Bullard any day over him.
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Tractorog added 17:23 - Jan 26 A lot of people are missing the point when they talk of Norris and Bullard. Yes Bullard has high wages, but this is a loan to get him off Hulls hands, we will only pay a proportion of his wages. He would not fit within our salary bands if we were payign £50k a week. PJ has just joined. He has probably not worked out his requirements for permanent signings so Bullard is a temporary fix using a player PJ knows - but frankly we'd have to be lifted into the prem to afford the wages. I'd be amazed if this was more than a chance for Bullard to get fit and Hull to lose the wages. Norris is seperate and unconnected.

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katemoss added 17:38 - Jan 26 Yaaawwwwnnnnn..................
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Dowson added 17:44 - Jan 26 get in !!!
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floridaboy added 17:44 - Jan 26 Why are so many worried about Bullard and his fitness. As with the case of Jake Livermore who returned to Spurs due to injury the same would happen to Bullard if he broke down. End of!
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Eye_Tea_Eff_See added 18:09 - Jan 26 Great shout JayT, wouldn't mind someone like that at the club, bags of pace could be worth a shot?
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SOAMSEY added 18:14 - Jan 26 would be great news if he came down the town COYB
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village_blue added 19:45 - Jan 26 I think that it's a joke that flapper Fulop is on 15k a week to me he's not worth £15a week.Think that Bullard would be a great addition to the squad but with his injury prone knees that 45ka week is a concern and hope that we would only have to pay a proportion of this.
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avatar added 20:29 - Jan 26 Great to be linked with quality like bullard. But it's still only linked not signed permernat or loan which is a better option. Still amazed that we haven't been linked with Jason Roberts. He doesn't feature at rovers and would be worth the wages. From last night we've found a rightback but got our own flappy hands in goal great 1 minute and make you cringe the next. Good but not good enough

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TractorJed added 20:37 - Jan 26 Theres no way that Town are spend anywhere near that sort of dough on a 32 year old player with all the problems he has had. Hull however will glad to save £15k a week so who knows what the deal is. Do we really want to become a club that throws good money at ageing players on the slide? Avoid the drop then see if PJ can build a squad with a mixture of young and hungry players with players currently at the club. There will be natural trimming of the squad in the summer with the amount of players out or failing to agree a new contract. This is a great time to build a team for the now and the future, no more short term fixes - that just the lazy option.

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Lightningboy added 20:58 - Jan 26 Would be a brilliant signing if it works out...we haven't had a decent playmaker since the Magilton days.
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Sospiri added 21:06 - Jan 26 If we sign him, will commentators always refer to him as 'the much-travelled midfielder'?
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Bobbys_Dazzlers added 21:32 - Jan 26 avatar - sorry, but you must be joking if you think Edwards is the answer to our right back problem. I would say he was at fault for the first goal last night.
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blueherts added 22:03 - Jan 26 I think we have one of the best midfielders and he is a young'un - Luke Hyam - Top draw - tough little player - we can lose one of Norris or leadbitter - O ' Connor is another one who has great potential Right Back is a must - agree Edwards had good game but showed too much to Bendtner for first goal - All good things are coming I feel - COYB !!!
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