Portsmouth manager Steve Cotterill has confirmed that exiting Town skipper David Norris will join Pompey when his Blues contract comes to an end on July 1st. Cotterill has been chasing Norris since January when his club made a £250,000 offer for the 30-year-old midfielder.

Cotterill said: “David has agreed to come here and will be in to join his new team-mates on July 1st. We’re delighted that he’s agreed to come.

“He has great leadership qualities. You don’t become the captain of a great club like Ipswich Town if you don’t. He is a leader, has great quality and scores goals.

“We’ve agreed and sorted out his arrival now. It’s a big bonus. We’ve agreed that and we look forward to welcoming him to the football club. We’ve been waiting for a long time.

“David has also been very patient waiting, and that is something I thank him for. I looking forward to working with him very much.”

Norris, who was also believed to be interesting Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Leeds and Wigan, told Blues boss Paul Jewell that he was moving on after the final game of the season at Leicester.

The former Plymouth man turned down the offer of a two-year deal with Town with a three-season contract understood to be on offer at Fratton Park.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth striker David Nugent increasingly appears destined for Leicester, the Blues having been linked with the out-of-contract England man earlier in the summer.

Town have also now been mentioned in connection with 25-year-old Olympiacos striker Matt Derbyshire.

The former Blackburn man, a one-time England U21 international, spent last season on loan at Birmingham and had been linked with a £1 million permanent move to St Andrew’s, although manager Alex McLeish’s exit and their relegation may have some bearing on his situation. Cardiff City are also claimed to be interested.

Photo: Action Images

TractorBeezer added 14:51 - Jun 15 No lack of effort from Norris. However, keep in mind that we are looking to raise the bar and can hopefully replace with someone who can supply the strikers as well as doing the midfield grunt work... all with a more entertaining end product. Best wishes to him anyway.
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tractorboybig added 15:07 - Jun 15 Gone to a bigger club who have ambitions of promotion. Not replaced here yet and probaly by some released journey man
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depressed added 15:28 - Jun 15 Well Well Well..Mr Cotterill was right all along when he said that Norris would be joining Portsmouth. And i'm sorry to say it but it appears that our beloved club has been a little economical with the truth. Good Luck Chuck anyway.
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bluelady added 16:16 - Jun 15 tractorboybig, no he has gone to Portsmouth a poorly managed club with little money......
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alfromcol added 17:05 - Jun 15 depressed wrote: """Well Well Well..Mr Cotterill was right all along when he said that Norris would be joining Portsmouth. And i'm sorry to say it but it appears that our beloved club has been a little economical with the truth.""" More like Norris has been more than a little economical with the truth!!!
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Suffolk_n_Good added 17:17 - Jun 15 Bursts of quality, no great loss in my opinion.
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Tiggs added 17:20 - Jun 15 Good luck Chuck. It is such a shame you didn't play in a successful side rather than the dross we currently have on our books.
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oddball added 17:48 - Jun 15 Not sure what most people are talking about, he is a decent player and was for us last year. Also incredibly strange that people still surprised by players wanting best contract, whats the problem with that, Ipswich should have offered him 3yrs, they didnt so he's signed for Pompey and he will do a decent job for them>
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bedsitfc added 17:49 - Jun 15 soo glad that this situation has been put to bed now, good player on his day and last season was his best for us because we were playing a system that suited him. we all know nobody wants town playing with one up front, so best to let him go and move onwards and upwards.
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Johnny_Boy added 18:02 - Jun 15 There are some proper idiotic comments on this News section..... infact, even more than usual. The club should have given him that extra year we wanted & Keane shouldn't have been so bloody single-minded in trying to free up wages - just so he could buy more overpriced donkeys. Good luck Chuck
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churchmans added 18:35 - Jun 15 pompey must be paying him loads of dosh! he was on 7-10k a week here! by the way our highest earner is lee martin on 12k! unless chopra has signed for more.
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HundonBlue added 19:21 - Jun 15 Good ridance!!!!!!! if you chase the pound go for it hope you f!*k up & fail.......... your not welcome at our club, the days of Matty Holland (who cared) Norris your not fit to tie his boots! Go away!!!!!!!!!!
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_Mhs_ added 20:01 - Jun 15 for people criticising clegg, its clear that norris wanted to move on no matter what he was offered by ipswich. Portsmouth aren't in the financial position to be offering norris much more than what we could have offered him. I agree with some people that portsmouth arent much better than us and it is maybe a step in the wrong direction for him but for people that have called him 'average', well we only have to look at the amount of goals he has scored and his consitent performances since we signed him. It'll be sad to see him go as i thought even when he wasnt playing great he was still putting 110% in, which is more than can be said for most players.

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StochesStotasBlewe added 22:34 - Jun 15 A big step downwards Mr Norris. Although i wish you well in your future at Pompey, i,m not alone in thinking average championship player at best.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 23:04 - Jun 15 i'll wait and see if any of our midfielders can score more next season than he did in the last 12 months Surco72 added 12:41 - Jun 15 TractorRoy get real £1.5 million for Norris ? no one would have paid anywhere near that for a player who scored 13 league goals in over a 100 games for us ,hardly prolific is it ?
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TractorRoyNo1 added 23:07 - Jun 15 let's see how much we have to pay to replace him, and as for the 'stupid' comment that's fighting talk where i come from tom_the_blue added 12:57 - Jun 15 TractorRoy - Thank you for cheering me up with your amusing/ incredibly stupid comments. Worth £1.5M? Good one.
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Tractorog added 01:15 - Jun 16 A whole hearted, decent player. The decision to play for Pompey is ... strange. A semi bankrupt club with an awful ground and a city that makes ipswich look like the hanging gardens of babylon. It feels like we've been jilted for someone with no money and the looks of Frankenstein. I don't mind him going... but if Pompey is the club he is leaving us for what does it say about the deal we offered him?

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blue_em_away added 14:08 - Jun 16 A guy with great ability and skill and will be sorely missed by our club. Terry Baxter.... you have done a great job, thank you....... Oh.... wrong story. Jog on Norris, Never like you after you made our club look STUPID with your goal celebration for your child killing mate.
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Lovetown added 18:26 - Jun 16 It was a bad sighning anyway! Still was the only player on the field that seemed to try for the whole 90 minutes anyhow, so good luck David! Not quite sure why you chose pompey but there you go. Anyways norris is gone now for the worse of the bad wood to go! Leadbitter,ALB and scotland. Though he's a bit controversial. Jason! Loose the weight,pick up energy levels so you don't get tired after you've ran a meter in 10 mins, and maybe by some miracle you'll get more then 10 goals a bloody season!

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Lovetown added 18:28 - Jun 16 Oh also Scotland jump up in the fricken air!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A toddler can jump higher the you!!!!!
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h32 added 20:31 - Jun 16 Amazing how vindictive some ITFC supporters are towards players that leave this club - and in doing so state that they are rubbish and won't be missed etc; etc; - why the need for this kind of attitude ??? Fact is that, as much mailgned as they are, MOST players leave and go on to better themselves i.e Walters, as a typical example. If players are happy at a Club for whatever reason, mainly the right deal and the Club showing ambition - they stay. I've known the time when players would not even consider leaving - wonder why that is no longer the case !!!! Thanks for your contribution on the playing side of ITFC David Norris - personally I wish you well, and I am sure you will be successful, and be MISSED.

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h32 added 20:35 - Jun 16 TractorRoyNo1 - agreed.
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h32 added 20:43 - Jun 16 broomfield123 - no, we just pis#ed him off like we have others, by being unprofessional in dealing with contracts - no surprise.
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theblueginger added 21:16 - Jun 16 He has been a very determined, and usually consistent player, who wanted an extra year. He wasnt our most talented player, but by losing our captain for nothing and thereby requiring even more work for PJ is not a brilliant move.
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