Town striker Connor Wickham has completed his move to Sunderland, signing a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light. The Blues have revealed the fee to be an initial £8.1 million rising to more than £12 million after additional clauses relating to appearances and achievements are triggered. TWTD understands that there is also a clause which will see the Blues receive a percentage of the profit from his future sale.

Chief executive Simon Clegg said: "As much as we would have liked to have kept Connor at Portman Road we have to be realistic and recognise that the offer from Sunderland was simply too good to turn down.

"The deal is by far the biggest transfer fee this club has ever received and I'm told this could be a record in terms of a player moving from the Championship into the Premier League for the first time.

"I know that every Town fan will join me in wishing Connor well for the future. We are proud that he has developed through our academy and what he has achieved in his time here and we will follow his ongoing progress with interest. We will now look carefully as to how best to utilise these funds to support Paul in strengthening the squad."

The Hereford-born striker moved to Town in 2006 after his serviceman father Stefan was posted to Colchester, having been with Reading’s academy up to that point. The Royals recommended the Blues’ youth set-up as the place in East Anglia where he should continue his development.

A regular in the U18s at 14, by which time he was already being tracked by Premier League scouts, Wickham made his first team bow at the age of 16 years and 11 days, coming on as a sub in a 3-1 home defeat to Doncaster Rovers in the closing weeks of Jim Magilton’s time as Town boss.

That beat Jason Dozzell’s previous record by 46 days, although unlike the Ipswich-born midfielder, Wickham didn’t score.

His first two senior goals followed in the Carling Cup victory over Shrewsbury at the New Meadow the following August. Wickham claimed a hat-trick of sorts as he also netted in a rare Town penalty shoot-out success after the match had ended 3-3. His first league goal came late on in a 1-0 home victory over Scunthorpe at Portman Road later that season.

In total, the striker made 37 starts and 35 sub appearances while at Portman Road, scoring 15 goals. Wickham also won England U16, U17, U19 and U21 caps while with the Blues, netting the winning goal as the U17s beat Spain 2-1 in the final of the European Championships last summer.

Nine of those have come since Paul Jewell took over as manager in January, the most any Town player has scored after the turn of a year since Darren Bent netted 10 in 2004.

While Wickham, both the Championship Young Player and Apprentice of the Year in 2010/11, moving to Sunderland may seem a surprise, manager Steve Bruce has been admirer of his son Alex’s former team-mate for some time.

Two years ago, shortly after his former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane had taken over at Portman Road, he made an audacious but unsuccessful four-man swap offer involving Grant Leadbitter, Carlos Edwards, Dean Whitehead and Daryl Murphy.

Wickham becomes the most expensive player to have moved from the Championship to the Premier League without previous experience in the top flight.

In 2006 Theo Walcott made the switch from Southampton to Arsenal for a fee which, after a renegotiation in 2008, eventually totalled £9 million, having initially been set at £12 million including clauses.

The deal also makes Wickham Town’s most expensive sale, smashing the £6.5 million Newcastle paid the Blues for Kieron Dyer in the summer of 1999.

Dyer’s fee allowed then-manager George Burley to bring in the likes of John McGreal, Jermaine Wright, Gary Croft and later Marcus Stewart and Martijn Reuser as the Blues finally won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.

Paul Jewell will now look to add to his squad in a similar manner with hopefully the same end result. After a number of summer exits, Town look short of players in several areas including left-back, right-back, right-sided central defence, central midfield, wide midfield, up front and perhaps even in goal if Márton Fülöp moves on.

Despite adding Michael Chopra and Nathan Ellington to his squad already this summer, Jewell looks certain to bring in another striker to replace Wickham, presumably an aerial threat to complement his previous two signings. Jason Scotland, a Sheffield Wednesday target, and Tamás Priskin look likely to move on, while Ronan Murray seems set to go out on loan.

Ellington’s former Wigan strike partner Jason Roberts was understood to be a Jewell target earlier in the summer but the Grenada international appears to still be in Blackburn’s plans for the season ahead.

QPR striker Rob Hulse could well come into Jewell’s thoughts, the Town manager having signed him for £1.75 million from Sheffield United when Derby boss in July 2008.

The 31-year-old, who started his career with hometown club Crewe and has also played for Hyde United (loan), West Brom and Leeds, joined Neil Warnock’s now-promoted side last summer for a £1 million fee but managed only 13 starts and nine sub appearances, scoring two goals.

Despite Hulse, who is contracted to Rangers until 2013, stating that he hopes to establish himself at Loftus Road in the Premier League in the new season, a move back to the Championship would be little surprise with Millwall having already made an unsuccessful approach.

Out-of-contract former Portsmouth frontman David Nugent has also been linked with the Blues this summer but is understood to be on his way to Leicester City.

Elsewhere in the squad, Preston central defender Sean St Ledger, another player also linked with Leicester, is someone Jewell has been chasing since January and the Wickham cash could lead to the Blues firming up that interest.

St Ledger’s Lilywhites and Ireland team-mate Keith Treacy, a left winger, is also understood to be on Town’s wish-list, although Premier League Newcastle have been linked in recent days.

Burnley’s Dean Marney is a central midfield target, but we understand there is nothing in reports linking Michael Brown, a free agent since leaving Portsmouth at the end of the season.

Doncaster’s James Coppinger is a player Town have been chasing all summer with a £300,000 offer having been turned down last month and conflicting reports in South Yorkshire as to whether a second larger bid has also been rebuffed by Rovers.

The Blues also made an unsuccessful bid for Doncaster striker Billy Sharp but Jewell has said another approach for the former Sheffield United striker is not in his thoughts having signed Chopra, with Rovers apparently after £3.25 million for his services.

The large Wickham fee is also likely to lead to speculation that the Blues could make renewed attempts to sign former loanee Jimmy Bullard on a permanent basis, despite Jewell ruling the club out of the race a fortnight ago.

Bullard, who is understood to have spoken to QPR this summer, is still to move on from Hull City but reports in East Yorkshire recently claimed that the 32-year-old was talking to the Tigers about a seven-figure settlement of the two remaining years of his £45,000-a-week contract which makes up 21% of their wage bill.

Jewell already had cash at his disposal but the significant initial fee for Wickham is likely to see him set his sights slightly higher than he would otherwise have done.

Photo: Action Images

Stetson_Blue added 18:12 - Jun 29 Good deal, never rated the boy !
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s6blue added 18:28 - Jun 29 all the best Connor -- we ll all always remember that goal agst sheff utd last season
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Warkys_Tash added 18:48 - Jun 29 POOR, POOR, POOR bit of business from Evans & Clegg I am afraid. On the face of it it looks a good deal for Town to get £8Mil for an unproven 18yr old who warmed the under 21's bench last week. However, lets be honest he has be touted as the next Rooney & when given a regular run in the team has scored regular and generally been a handful with bags of potential. Jordan Rhodes, now Connor..Town selling the best silver. IF, we ever reach the Prem, we would be struggling to buy a striker of that calibre for 10Mil.. Why Sunderland, Connor? They are an average Prem club, thought your Dad would have had more sense and advised you to stay another year and get a full season under your belt & then review..good luck to you, hope it works out.

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h32 added 18:49 - Jun 29 ............. few oldish nags signed - most, if not all decent youngsters now gone. How the h#ll can that be good for the future prospects of this Club ???????????? - other than financially. Talk about quality coming in, my guess is that the majority, if not all, of the £8m will not be scheduled in the direction of incoming players - or at best possibly in the direction a few more nags (sorry forgot, they are freebies of course). SO FAR THIS CLOSE SEASON, A CLEAR STATEMENT THAT THIS CLUB NOW SERIOUSLY LACKS AMBITION. There for everyone, other than fools, to see. Go on slag me off - BUT IT'S THE TRUTH.

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whoppit added 18:58 - Jun 29 @warkystash - An average Premier club beats a below average Championship club that's why
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Warkys_Tash added 19:16 - Jun 29 @Whoppit - True but he could have waited & gone to better..no value in going to Sunderland - well of course there is the difference of about £50k a week I guess..
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StochesStotasBlewe added 19:23 - Jun 29 Fantastic business for Ipswich Town F.C. I just hope the mackems will be patient & not expect too much too soon from such a young man with such a big price on his head. h32, i,m not agreeing with you again, although i understand how you & some others feel, i believe Mr Jewell can rebuild the team with a mixture of experience, quality & a bit of youth. The fee received today will go towards this process and as the saying goes, you don,t win anything with kids!!. Good luck Connor, listen, learn & become the player that people believe you can be.

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martin12120137 added 19:26 - Jun 29 great bit of business really 8 million to start for an unprven player really can ger a few quality players in with that!!!
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suffolk_punch added 20:21 - Jun 29 Agree with H32 again ,
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beerhelps added 20:29 - Jun 29 I wish Clegg had waited until the other premier managers were back behind thier desks, not still on a beach, more chance of a bidding war in a couple of weeks! Any chance of a loan back?
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runaround added 20:39 - Jun 29 Good luck Connor. I really hope ME makes all the cash available to PJ to strenghten the side and that PJ can get his targets signed. I just worry that prices of players will rocket as clubs know we have cash and wage demands of some targets maybe beyond clubs wage structure
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chepstowblue added 20:48 - Jun 29 Wishing him all the best but honestly believe weve got the better deal out of this. The "wonderkid" and "boy sensation" tags are typical of this countrys media to over hype decidedly average young players. I dont think he is anything like ready to step up and would have liked to have seen his progression at the club over the nxt 2yrs but ITFC with £8million worth of replacements is a much stronger proposition for the coming season.

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ITFC4daprem added 21:36 - Jun 29 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! want him on loan :( :{ :[
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London_Blue added 22:11 - Jun 29 Technically, Wickham wasn't going to improve in the Championship, a tough league full of hackers, and therefore needed to move up a level to progress. Great business for Ipswich. Personally, I am yet to see £8m worth of performance in Wickham, never mind 12. I get the distinct feeling listening to PJ speak that he knows exactly what he's doing, and I for one couldn't agree more with his foresight. The suggestion of strikers that are hungry to scoe goals, even in training, and the inclusion of 'men' in the side rather than boys or lightweights. Let me give you an example; People moaned because McCauley left the club. Can you see any comparison in quality between McCauley and say, Kevin Beattie, Terry Butcher or even, more latterly, Jason De Vos! Year after year I see Ipswich put out sides that have more than the average number of players who are vertically challenged, we seem to lack pace in almost all areas of the pitch, but more importantly, we lack bite, even Colback looked good, a very inexperienced player who is still unlikely to make his mark in the Premiership next season. The likes of Koumas, Chopra, Ingamarsson, Danny Graham, Grant Holt(Dare I say it!) are all strong players with ability to hold their ground and be strong in combat and it's this quality I think PJ will bring to PR. Long awaited IMHO.

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Blue041273 added 22:31 - Jun 29 He is 18 years old and made just 33 starts for us. £8.1 million in is just a dream. What we do with the proceeds is anyone's guess. Just pray we invest it wisely.
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StochesStotasBlewe added 22:37 - Jun 29 London Blue. Totally agree with all that you have had to say. The sort of players you mention are just the type to get our club promoted.
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ITFCMonk added 22:53 - Jun 29 Shame to see you go.. good luck for the future though, hope to see you go on and do bigger things!!
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churchmans81 added 23:08 - Jun 29 Spotty herbert!!
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Christine added 23:17 - Jun 29 He's just 18 years old. I can just about remember when I was that age. I feel sorry for the lad - he's been ill advised. It would have been much, much better for him [let alone us, the club] to have waited a year or even two. I can only hope that Bruce treats him well and doesn't exploit him. He is, after all, just a boy. Good luck Connor - with luck and good guidance the world is at your feet. For us, the Club. Players come and players go. We're still Bobby Robson's Blue and White Army - ITFC regardless.

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Buryblueboy added 23:27 - Jun 29 A brave decision by the club to sell - but probably fair to say the right one. I think some of us were getting carried away with the 10M+ that was being banded around in the media. If you look at the players that Connor was unable to get in front of at the recent Euro U21s i.e. Delfonso, Sturridge, Welbeck, none of them have been touted to be worth as much and have had the opportunity to experience far more Prem football to date. Also worth remembering that before he signed his most recent contract some of us were thinking he might only be sold at tribunal rates...i hope people remember that by him extending his contract has enabled us to get 8M in before they have a pop that he has been greedy etc Disappointed to see him go as was beginning to believe he was going to score lots more goals next season. There will be some pressure on Jewell to sign the right replacement who will get off to a flier, and just hope his replacement/s are given some time before the all too familiar slating starts before some players have even been given a true chance. Also this is now going to put Clegg under pressure to truly earn his money and 'seal some deals' at a time when we are going to see clubs ramp up their asking prices based on them knowing we have this amount of money hopefully at our disposal. Come on you Blues (and good luck Connor)

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marcus139 added 00:01 - Jun 30 Ok. It's done now. I want to see decent players added to squad. Would like Peter whittingham, best player in championship, Billy sharp, got something about him like nugent, and st ledger. To form a spine down middle. I think sharp and chopra could play together. If not sharp, Noel hunt.
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BrettenhamBlue added 00:57 - Jun 30 A sad day for Ipswich fans. I wish we could all look at this a little more objectively and realise why we are in trouble. In some respects, I think Clegg shouldn't have said ANYTHING about where the money is going. We will suddenly find St Ledger is worth 4m and Maynard 5m. Probably the wisest use of the money right now is to sign a few (good) quality free transfers with the aim of staying up this year. We can afford to invest but lets not give all the money to other Championship Clubs. There are a fair few good free transfers out there but we need to take the risk. I really hope we can avoid the drop this year

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ian_marshall added 08:48 - Jun 30 All the best Connor, hope you go to the very top!
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Infineteregress added 09:16 - Jun 30 Lets go and make Bristol City an offer for Nicky Maynard that they can't refuse!
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London_Blue added 11:22 - Jun 30 Let's not forget that most Championship clubs are strapped for cash. PJ did absolutely the right thing in refusing to pursue Sharp after the public 'Ryan rebuff'. It's only this sort of behaviour which will drive other club chairmen to take our first offer seriously, whereas Ryan tried to bully into upping our offer. I only hope that he regrets his decision to turn down decent offers from both us, and even better from Southampton if reports are to be believed. I would also state that the deals PJ has completed to date have been master strokes. People complain about Ellington, being out of sorts and having not been impactful in the last few years. Remember that he is still only 29, and had an excellent spell with Wigan under Jewell. If he can recreate that form and build a strong partnership with Chopra, that's as good as it gets in the Championship! My opinion, use some of the £8m to fund a return of Bullard. Still unattached and if he completes the termination deal with Hull, he will be available at a steal. Once again, down to PJ to convince him that Ipswich is the right club, although there will be more interesting places to go, I suspect. I think we're in safe hands.....

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