West Brom manager Roy Hodgson says exiting Blues defender Gareth McAuley will complete his move to the Baggies this week. The 31-year-old was at the Hawthorns on Friday when it had been thought he would put pen to paper on a contract.

Hodgson says that the Northern Irishman is yet to sign but that the formalities should be complete in the next few days: "It's likely that he will sign. Nothing has been concluded yet, but we are in discussions with Gareth McAuley and his agent, so it is likely that something will be finalised during the coming week."

Out-of-contract McAuley told Blues boss Paul Jewell that he would be moving on on the Monday following the final game of the season at Leicester with West Brom quickly emerging as his destination. Hodgson confirmed his interest last week.

McAuley joined the Blues from Leicester for a fee of £1.1 million in June 2008 and made 126 starts and one sub appearance, scoring eight goals.

The former Lincoln man was offered a new two-year deal by Town before Christmas but despite continuing to talk to the club in the final months of the season, decided against staying at Portman Road with SPL giants Rangers also showing interest.

Photo: Action Images

TractorCam added 21:47 - May 22 Good luck Gareth.
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WadzillaBhoy added 21:48 - May 22 Good luck in the future Gareth, thanks for your efforts.
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Dissboyitfc added 21:52 - May 22 it is a shame, but we move on. He has been a good player for us, but not a great one.
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BROTHERBLUE1974 added 22:21 - May 22 Good luck, you'll need it!!!
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purplesprouting added 22:27 - May 22 Bench warmer, but i think he will be happy with that. Never exactly busted a gut.
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Tractorboy24 added 23:52 - May 22 Disappointed, but hey, hopefully someone else can come and replace him. Cheers for the steady performances, aside from the ones to get rid of keane last year!
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footyblue added 23:58 - May 22 Its a shame but it should have been sorted months a go so don't blame him at all Good luck
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rosseden added 00:08 - May 23 i seriously think he's gonna get found out for his lack of pace now though......
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Warkystache added 00:10 - May 23 It's a shame but in a way I'm glad. His departure might mean we get a better defender in - one with a bit of pace would be nice. I don't think GMac owes us anything though, but he won't be remembered in 10 yrs as anything other than a steady-eddie.
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taylor15 added 00:38 - May 23 great player for us, but nothing on de vos!
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Eireannach_gorm added 01:43 - May 23 Thank you Gareth. Now buy St. Ledger.
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DiamondGezzer added 06:36 - May 23 Eireannach gorm :- Agree. Now for the St. Ledger !
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Lamby95 added 07:22 - May 23 Good luck to him but maybe he is more of a money grabber than we think if he's still hasn't signed?
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Dissboyitfc added 07:29 - May 23 its gonna be his last big deal so you cant blame him for making sure everything is right, steady player but will get exposed in the premiership for his lack of space. Will be nice when it happens to talk about an actual signing of our own.
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Mark added 07:44 - May 23 It's interesting that Ipswich met McAuley's agent's demands, so are WBA paying that same wage or a higher wage? Best of luck to him anyway. When we replace him please sign an INVESTMENT, a player whose value will not just disappear like McAuley's £1.1M fee did due to the contract situation, and many player's value does due to age (Edwards, Lisbie, Scotland etc.)
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tractor_boy_varnz added 08:01 - May 23 Great Servent to the club! deserves to be playing at the top even if just in the squad.... really hope he breaks into the first team though! and people saying that he is going to get found out didnt we all say this last year about jon walters! he has been outstanding thhis year!
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carsey added 08:38 - May 23 I get fed up with people saying good luck when players hold the club to ransom then bugger off somewhere else when they can't get what they want - McAuley's an average player in a poor team and in 10 years people will forget who he was. I hope he falls flat on his face along with Norris and anyone else on the money trail.
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gypo added 08:42 - May 23 Who's he this site is about players being linked with ipswich isn't it !!
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SouperJim added 08:50 - May 23 Turned out to be very good value for money and a fantastic buy by Jim Magilton. A shame we didn't see a season of him and De Vos playing together as we might have fared better. Can't blame Gareth for wanting to make the most of what will probably be his last contract and get a taste of premiership football. Phrases like "hold the club to ransom" are quite frankly ridiculous here, he had a contract and he's served it. It's a credit to Gareth that he would even consider gambling his last few seasons as a pro footballer on more mid-table mediocrity here, especially as by all accounts it would have only taken a decent 3-year offer. We'll move on and I trust PJ to build a new defence which will last us the next 5 years or so.

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itfcmuzza added 08:51 - May 23 @carsey, I think it was the length of the contract that was the cause for dispute, not the wages! GM was a good player but we can do better, St Ledger would be awesome!
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bluepeter added 08:58 - May 23 Remember when he joined us and how long it took for him to settle? He was really unpopular for a few months. Lets hope that he settles in at the Hawthorns a little better. He came good in the end and I do really wish him well, well done big Mac.
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tractorboybig added 09:05 - May 23 Why do all the brain dead keep going on about st ledger? If he is any good then he is not coming here.Gareth is as good as we could have and I think a suitable replacement will not be found.
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SouperJim added 09:18 - May 23 bluepeter - he took a while to settle because we played him out of position, was unpopular because most of our fanbase are clueless
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ITFC4daprem added 09:26 - May 23 shows how lucky we were to have him and how silly to let him go
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suffolkpoker added 09:43 - May 23 i agree with the above, i would love it if we got St Ledger. Would be a very decent replacement. Plus he is the right age.
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