Town boss Paul Jewell says he’s trying to spend the money the club received for striker Connor Wickham but at the moment no one seems to want to take it. The Blues received an initial fee of £8.1 million, rising to more than £12 million after various clauses are triggered, for the England U21 international, cash the Blues manager says he has been trying to use to strengthen his squad.

Jewell has in particular targeted central defenders but with Premier League clubs keen to wait until they know the look of their squads at the end of the transfer window, his search goes on, although he says deals such as the two mystery offers revealed yesterday could potentially happen at a later date: “It’s not as if we’re not trying to spend that money, those bids have been made and we’ve tried to do that business as quietly and correctly as possible and they haven’t come out.

“Whether something will happen later on, I don’t know. It’s not as if the money from Connor has gone in the bank or into the owner’s pocket and he’s said we’re not spending it.”

The Blues boss says that although he’s got funds to spend, he’s not got the levels of cash of some Championship clubs: “Leicester spent £5 million on a centre-half [Matthew Mills] who was on the bench the other night. That’s what we’re up against, that’s the league we’re in.

“We haven’t got [that kind of] money. Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. This is a great club which will move in the right direction eventually, albeit a bit slower than we’d like.

“We have bid for players, both from the Championship and the Premier League. But there is a lack of quality centre-halves about, every manager is looking for them. I spoke to [Southampton manager] Nigel Adkins and they are looking to improve in that department and they’re top of the league. It’s really, really difficult and frustrating.”

But Jewell warns that splashing large sums doesn’t necessarily get a club into the Premier League: “There is no guarantee when you spend money, it does help, it does give you an advantage. We would have liked to have taken Matthew Mills but he went to Leicester over Wolves, a Premier League club.

“We tried to get Sean St Ledger, so there are a couple of players at Leicester we were in the market for and we can’t compete with that sort of money.

“We spoke to West Brom about Pablo Ibáñez and we’d like to take him, but there are a few clubs in for him, so we end up getting into a bit of an auction — this club have offered this, so what are you going to offer? It’s very frustrating.

“We bid £3 million for Jay Rodriguez at Burnley earlier in the summer and I think Southampton have gone in for him and that’s been turned down. As I say, we have tried to spend the money.”

The Town manager says he has targeted players overseas but similarly with no luck: “We have looked abroad and again we haven’t been successful. We went for a lad at Copenhagen but they wouldn’t sell him.

“We’ve exhausted the market, although there are players who might possibly come in [when the window shuts] and if I were a Premier League manager I’d want to see exactly what I’d got before I let people go, I fully understand that. But that’s the frustrating part of the window.”

TWTD’s Danish football expert sees no obvious targets in the FC Copenhagen squad, while Jewell confirmed that there has been contact with former Reading and Stoke man Ibrahima Sonko.

The Blues boss joked: “His agent keeps on ringing and he keeps tweeting, so I’ve tweeted him back a ‘maybe’! He’s been training at Reading I think, and it’s something we might have a look at.

“We’ve got lots of things going on and what’s really frustrating because it’s often a case that if that one thing happens, then another will happen. It’s really frustrating.”

It’s not all been doom and gloom on the transfer front though with eight permanent and loan signings having come in. Jewell believes one of them is the bargain of the summer and that other new additions are already showing their worth: “I’m the type of manager who if I think that it’s right to spend, I will. I think we’ve got the deal of the season in getting Michael Chopra for £1 million.

“Aaron Cresswell’s come in and I bet people weren’t jumping up and down when we signed Cressy but he’s shown in the short period of time since he’s been here that he can develop into a good player.

“I think we’ve got other players who will come to the fore as well, a bit of youth, a bit of experience, but it’s going to take time for the team to settle down.”

Photo: Action Images

Tractorboy24 added 09:20 - Aug 20 Wow, not sure what I'm more impressed about, the type of players we've been trying to sign or the fact that twtd has foreign football correspandants!
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KirbyStriker added 09:21 - Aug 20 Well said Paul, we have to understand this is more than a one year turn around for the team, if we keep putting the pressure on we may find paul does a panic pay like Keano did (Jason Scotland). Mid table this season with the re-build continuing for the following season.
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jas0999 added 09:23 - Aug 20 The problem here seems to be we are going in too low for a player - I mean 'We bid £3 million for Jay Rodriguez' - what on earth was the point? Burney wanted double that!! We need to be going for realistic targets - people we can actually afford, not just in terms of a fee but wages. So far this Summer, only two fees agreed (Cresswell going to tribunal) which isn't great. The rest were loans and has-been frees one of whom is injury prone.

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bluelady added 09:39 - Aug 20 Least we are not waiting till the last minute to sign players and then getting desperate like keane, jewell has done a good job so far, will get some more players in but clearly won't be drawn into a desperate purchase like that of people like campo!!!
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pazelle added 09:40 - Aug 20 Rodriguez is rated at £6 million, is Burnley born and bred and Burnley were in the prem a couple of years ago! These targets are ridiculous! We shouldn't have let both Eastman and Brown go - both decent and young and hard to replace! If we'd have kept one we'd at least have a young rightfooter to partner Delaney... Haven't seen Ainsley play but hopefully he can do the business - I understand he's quite tall! Get Reda Johnson from Sheff Weds - young, athletic, quick, powerful and would be a good partner for Delaney at the moment.

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Ipswich24 added 09:41 - Aug 20 Maybe we should go in with five million bid for Rodriguez or Maynard both would be fantastic alongside Chops. We need to offer the right money if we really want these players. I wonder if Jewell is just coming out saying we were in for these players just to impress us fans. It is easy talking about people who we could of signed I mean Whitton United could say we were in for him and him lets get the players in instead of talking about it.

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pazelle added 09:45 - Aug 20 Ha - Priskin in League 2 you're having a giraffe! He's our best striker!
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heady added 09:58 - Aug 20 Pazelle - you're deluded if you think Eastman and Brown are good young defenders. Utter crap!
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EssexTractor added 10:01 - Aug 20 Rebuiliding of course but we paper t have been in that situation for how many years now? But arent the foundations so far a little "wobbly" by reference to the summer acquistions: Stockdale-loan only- and however competent he is not going to be a stayer... Cresswell- just could be "Jewells Jewell" signing.. all the signs of a proper classy full back Ingimarsson- oh dear, one for the future, I think not, concerned that he is able to be one for the present... Chopra--more than a goal poacher and yes a definite plus and yes a snip at £1m so lets hope he doesnt get disillusioned by the absence of midfied suppliers! Ellington-- not sure how he adds value, or is a building block for the future..realistically unlikely to contribute more than Scotland and Priskin last year... Emmanuel Thomas-- when he's good hes very very good, and when hes bad he's.....- naturally unpredictable , a luxury in a struggling team , but to be fair (hopefully) more a plus than a minus... Andrews-- has the look of someone who knows how the game should be played, seems to be naturally vocal, but again is he just "visting"?? Bowyer---as I dont want this post to be censored I will simply ask.. WHY IS HE AT ITFC? Missing--- boringly , repeatedly as everyone has known for more than just these last few weeks , in recent times we have only had ONE TRULY DECENT centre back ..McCaulay--his intended departure was known to Jewell on the day he arrived at PR and still nearly nine moths later that BIG GAPING HOLE gets bigger..the actual basic for any rebuilding..so please please fix it, no more "who we tied to get but failed"-- silence is sometimes golden and I recommend that until the "deals are done" !! (Just seen PJ on Sky " we looked at the Southampton video on Wednesday and heres the beauty of football, todays another game".. BUT dare we watch !!!! A real test for you today PJ to pick the right team and get us back on your side..

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ipswich_is_the_best added 10:07 - Aug 20 Pazelle what a bout Chopra Still need Sonko Okoungae Another left sided cb Bullard Elliott(loaned back with 24hour recall) Striker to partner chOpra(le fondre/rhodes)any suggestions Winger(Rodriguez/chamberlain on loan) any suggestions Partner
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RYITFC added 10:07 - Aug 20 Look abroad or lower leagues, That's where you get value for money, You have only got to look at Brighton, Southampton, Norwich to realise the quality in league 1. Im sure if we scouted it there are bargains to be had, The problem with the Prem players coming down is there is no desire for them to do well, They are nearing the end of there careers and are just happy to get paid a wage.

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Liverpool_blu added 10:36 - Aug 20 spend some of it on a signing bonus to get bullard onboard
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Mark added 10:47 - Aug 20 Looking just at fees, if Jewell really was backed with the same money as Magilton and Keane plus given the whole of the Wickham money he'd have around £14M left to spent! I suspect the reality is somewhat different as Marcus Evans wants to avoid signing more expensive flops so the money is being kept tight. Wages are a big factor too, as these are usually more than the transfer fees over a three or four year period.

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DikkieCOYB added 11:03 - Aug 20 Just a thought but would Emmerson Boyce of Wigan be a good buy, because he's a centre back yet they play him at right back so he can play there. We need a centre back and a right back, Wigan wouldn't be desperate to keep onto him becuase they have Ronnie Stam to replace him at right back. He would also be cheap around 1.5 2million at most. Just a thought
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Lightningboy added 12:19 - Aug 20 Let's face it , football is a right mess these days..nobody seems to stay anywhere for longer than a couple of seasons anymore..greedy players & greedy agents are ruining the game..the Bosman ruling is the worst thing that ever happened to this sport. Just look through our latest matchday programme..the top scorer on our books now is jason scotland with 10 goals and Grant Leadbitter has played the most games - 90..pathetic. They say it's better than it was 20 odd years ago when crowds were dwindling but at least in those days there seemed to be a lot more loyalty and it wasn't all about money. Sad.

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Marshalls_Mullet added 14:02 - Aug 20 Jas099 - Town probably werent quoted a price for Rodriguez, they only found out that Burnley wasnted 6m when they got rebuffed, its the way the commercial world works.
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Blue041273 added 14:06 - Aug 20 Let's face it, there is a huge gap between the value of players we can afford and those we would like to have. Similarly there is a huge gap in quality between those in our price range and those we covet. While PJ would like to buy quality we simply can't afford it. Thus it looks like we will have to wait until the loan Market opens and get the quality in on loan. Not ideal.

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AbujaBlue added 14:13 - Aug 20 Does our Danish football expert see targets in other Danish league clubs besides FC Copenhagen?
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IITFC1948 added 14:50 - Aug 20 pj tell westbrom they owe US a favor they have got two from us for NOTHING
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cphtractor added 15:10 - Aug 20 We should go for right back Lars Jacobsen (31) free agent after being released by West Ham in june. Capped 41 times for Denmark.
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dirtydingusmagee added 15:33 - Aug 20 if no one wants it PJ ,i'll have it .
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Pip50 added 15:53 - Aug 20 Don't think this is rocket science... offer more money. The price if we play stick with the current squad will look cheap in April Div 1 and 14k crowd
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4dy added 19:45 - Aug 21 all i ask is that we are still patient enough to get get the right players and we dont rush out and grab the nearest player with the right initials(i.e. c b,mid)
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