Blues boss Paul Jewell says that despite striker Connor Wickham having been sold for an initial £8.1 million earlier in the week, the Blues won’t be spending that kind of cash during this transfer window. However, the Town manager believes owner and chairman Marcus Evans will back him as he looks to add at least three or four more signings to his squad before the start of the season, with chief executive Simon Clegg having confirmed that the cash will be reinvested in the squad.

Jewell said: “If I come up with a player and that player is going to improve the squad, then the owner will back me.

“It doesn’t mean there’s a ridiculous amount of money to spend. Just because we’ve got £8 million in, people might expect that we’re going to spend £8 million. It doesn’t work that way.

“But there will be money there to strengthen the team. It’s a long season, so let’s see how things go and we were in discussions with three or four players anyway, whether Connor was going to be here or not.

“We want players to come to Ipswich who are hungry, who want success and have that desire that we have.”

The Blues boss, who said he is yet to learn precisely how much of the fee he'll get to spend, is conscious not to pay over the odds just because other clubs know Town have received the cash: “The problem is that when you then go and ask about a player, the price goes up.

“We’ve got to be strong in the transfer market, put a price on players that we’d like and try not to get ripped off just because we’ve got a few quid.

“I want to be prudent as well as ambitious. I think the quality of player won’t change because we’ve got that money, we were always looking for quality players.”

Jewell, who expects to sign another player next Tuesday and hopes another will follow soon afterwards, is looking for “at least another three or four” additions before the start of the season, having already brought in Michael Chopra, Ívar Ingimarsson, Nathan Ellington and Aaron Cresswell.

Despite recruiting those players, the Town manager feels many areas of his squad still need strengthening: “What I felt we didn’t have last season was competition, proper competition in all areas and we still haven’t got it as we speak today, but it’s getting better. We need three or four more players to make that squad competitive.

“We’re certainly looking for more midfield players. We’re looking for players all around the pitch. There’s no area of the team that is ever secure because I think you’re always trying to improve on what you’ve got.”

Jewell says he was sad to see Wickham move on, but feels the club got a good deal with the £8.1 million fee rising beyond £12 million with top-ups, plus a sell-on: “We’re all disappointed to see him leave, but it was probably inevitable once the offer came in from Sunderland. I know Liverpool expressed an interest in him too.

“The lad wanted to go to Sunderland and I had a chat with him last week and we gave him permission to speak to them on the proviso that there was no pressure from the club and we’d love him back and we wish he was training here today.

“We felt the money was decent and the lad wanted to go and you’re not going to keep someone who wants to go.”

The Blues boss says he’s had a busy summer so far: “Even when you’re on holiday it doesn’t feel like a holiday. Every two minutes the phone is ringing or you’re cutting your holiday short to go to fly across Europe to meet someone. I’m not complaining, that’s the way the job is.

“I’ve probably been on the phone ever since the day we finished here trying to get players in. Some have worked out, some haven’t, some are still going.

“But my experience tells me not to panic. We’ve got five or six weeks to go before the season starts and things will come out of left field that we maybe didn’t see before.

“You need a little bit of luck in that way, but we’re all in the same boat, there’s no difference between us and any other team.”

By the time Town travel to Bristol City on August 6th, Jewell is confident the Blues will be a better side than they were during 2010/11: “Between now and the start of the season there’ll definitely be some ins and maybe some outs.

“What I’m trying do is make sure we’re competitive towards the start of what’s going to be a long, tough season.

“There are some good teams in the Championship and it’s going to be tough, and we want to be up there and competing.”

Photo: Action Images

ITFC4daprem added 09:12 - Jul 2 :( cant we go crazy
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beardo7181 added 09:16 - Jul 2 would love to see town move for wittingham at cardiff st ledger at preston billy sharp and jason koumas i really think that could give us a squad to really challenge for promtion at a hit of bout 6mil of the connor cash
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suffolkpoker added 09:17 - Jul 2 i totally agree no need to blow all that money in this transfer window!
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hmhb added 09:21 - Jul 2 koumas plz
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joshberry94 added 09:27 - Jul 2 i think we are likely to find it hard. any club who wants to keep hold of their prize asset (e.g. Doncaster & Sharp) are likely to up their valuation as they know we have the wickham money to spend. keep spending shrewdly PJ, you have got huge value for money so far and trust you to continue the good work... we could easily go crazy like Cardiff did in a bid to get promoted but it has its consequences if you don't manage it, as they are now finding out. as much as it pains me to say it, we are much better taking the Norwich approach, signing young, hungry, talented players with something to prove and building a team that way within our means.

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Tillz9 added 09:32 - Jul 2 With the quality of players avaliable on free transfers it would seem wise to pick up a few bargains while you can and have the cash available for Jan if needed. Jewell and ME have already show. They will bid on players they think are worth it (Austin,Chopra,Sharp etc). Would not be surprised to see Chimbonda, Dyer and Koumas arrive on frees before season starts.
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bluelady added 09:34 - Jul 2 Better to use the cash to attract good players with a half decent wage than to be hels to ransom by clubs.
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SouperJim added 09:37 - Jul 2 We need another cb, delaney ingimarsson and smith isn't enough, we desperately need a rb as it's not edwards or peters first position, we need a holding player as it seems clear jewell wants one and won't regularly play hyam, plus a creative centre mid ideally a first choice ahead of leadbitter drury and healy, plus maybe another wideman to give competition to martin edwards and carson. Oh yeah and that other new striker. I make that 5 or 6 players. To be honest I think a cb, rb and a couple of midfield players would do. I'm not sure who our defensive targets are as st ledger seems to be the only one who has been regularly linked and he looks set for leicester. I think dyer will sign, either on pay as you play or a modest deal, perhaps koumas too. I would be happy with those two, but I really hope we get some defensive players in as I think thats the one area which we can't affoard to make do until Janurary.

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DanLyles added 09:47 - Jul 2 Last time I looked Danny Gabbidon and Sol Campbell were available on free transfers, could be worth a look. I would really like to see Jewell get in some creative midfielders like Koumas, Bullard (we can afford his wages if he doesn't go to QPR) and Coppinger who can open up defences with their passing. Lastly, somebody hungry with a proven track record at this level to partner Chopra. I really like Sharp but maybe we need an ariel presence. John Carew is available on a free but I think everybody would doubt his desire/hunger. Jason Roberts would be ideal imo. p.s. Haroun keeps being referred to as a holding midfielder but he has scored 23 goals in 91 appearances, which seems very high for that position. Snap him up if that's the case!!!

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IP3 added 09:51 - Jul 2 Completely agree > SouperJim. 5 or 6 are a must for me if there is to be 'proper' competition! Each day I'm getting more optimistic about next season.. Can't wait now! :-)
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beardo7181 added 09:57 - Jul 2 it all seems to have gonequiet on the haroun front so doubt that deal will be done i see millwall are after le fondre could he do a job for us!!
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bully added 10:06 - Jul 2 didnt jewell holiday in florida? "Every two minutes the phone is ringing or you're cutting your holiday short to go to fly across Europe to meet someone." Either foreign player coming in or talking to players on there hols? Hopefully Haroun will be here on Tuesday. Le Fondre is worth a shout and he has stated he wants to leave for a higher league, wouldnt pay to much though as it is a big jump.

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blue_em_away added 10:06 - Jul 2 PJ... give the money to me. I'll make sure you don't spend it too fast. PS, I get to keep the interest ;)
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robdaful added 10:07 - Jul 2 Jewell said: “If I come up with a player and that player is going to improve the squad, then the owner will back me. Good to hear.
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jas0999 added 10:08 - Jul 2 Next week should be interesting! PJ certainly talks some sense.
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Karlosfandangal added 10:14 - Jul 2 We did the same for Wickham. Ipswich know the prem teams have money Clegg said that of Swansea £90 million windfall Sunderland wanted Wickham and have had to pay £12 million, If we want the Sharp's and Coppinger's of this world and Doncaster want £4 million then we should pay it The prize is £90 million My point is We were prepared to pay £2.5 for them before the sale of Wickham. We have a budget to spend and so far only £1.5 has been spent and we have 3 on a free, we have got rid of 12 players so we cannot have blown the wage budget and now we have an injection of cash from the sale of Wickham If we really need them to help push for promotion we need to go get these type of players

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rosseden added 10:26 - Jul 2 face it, Sharp doesnt want to come here..... he will want to stay in Yorkshire or close enough to Yorkshire to commute...... it was also well publicised that Gabbidon was on £27k per week, so hes will out of our league funds wise...... unless hes after a 50% pay cut?!
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johnhazelbum added 10:57 - Jul 2 We heard this all before. Why does anyone want to sign Faris Haroun? Has anyone seen him play?
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ipswich85 added 11:03 - Jul 2 Let's try 1 more try for Bullard now we have a bit more money surely worth one last go.
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bobble added 11:18 - Jul 2 obviously with all the conner cash and portman pies potential this club will soon be bidding against chelsea for exotic players with 4 legs from across the universe. i love it when a plan works' but what will we do once we have won the premiership for 20-30 years in a row ? we need to be lobbying hard now for a euro-league or better still a world premier league so we don't have to play celtic and rangers every year.

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Guthrum added 11:43 - Jul 2 As I've said before - we don't need to spend big, we need to spend wisely. Look at Burley in 2001: Big spending got us Sereni. Wise spending got us Counago.
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johnhazelbum added 11:46 - Jul 2 Coppinger? Really?
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churchmans added 12:34 - Jul 2 i would like to see us blow the majority of it 5-6million in the january window. when we are top of the leauge and we buy the player that is standing out above all the others. always big signings in jan by clubs buying in frm player.
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Infineteregress added 12:41 - Jul 2 Four main areas that need strengthening in my opinion are right back (Halford?), centre back (St Ledger or Mark Beevors), an attacking/ creative midfielder (Danny Green or Whittingham) and another striker (Maynard?) to replace Wickham. Good signings in those areas and we'll have a solid spine to the team
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Infineteregress added 13:01 - Jul 2 Ah, I see Green has signed for Charlton. Rollocks.
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