Town are still the frontrunners to sign Derby striker Steve Davies, according to reports in the East Midlands. Davies has been linked with a move to the Blues since May, having been made available for transfer by the Rams due to what manager Nigel Clough called "a genuine family reason", despite having another year left on his Pride Park contract.

A number of clubs are believed to be interested in the 24-year-old but Town are still considered the favourites to land the man that Blues boss Paul Jewell brought to Derby from Tranmere during his time in charge of the Rams.

The clubs are said to have talked but are still to agree on a fee for the 6ft 1in tall, who we understand is amongst Jewell’s top summer targets, alongside former Nottingham Forest centre-half Luke Chambers, who we understand is expected at Portman Road on Monday to sign a three-year deal.

Previously, Davies was reported to have confirmed that the Blues were one of the clubs chasing him, while one unofficial Derby website has been claiming that the Liverpool-born frontman would join Town since early May.

Perhaps notably, Davies has recently started following Town pair Aaron Cresswell and Nathan Ellington on Twitter having previously briefly followed a Blues-related site's account. Davies will know Ellington from the Blues striker’s loan spell at Pride Park, while Cresswell is another former Tranmere player.

Last month, claims that Derby had rebuffed a £500,000 Blues offer, naming their price at £1 million, were dismissed, however, it’s likely that Town would have to pay something approaching that sort of figure to get their man.

Davies recently confirmed that he would definitely be leaving Derby this summer to join an undecided club in the south on Twitter.

Jewell brought Davies from Tranmere to Derby in June 2008 for a fee which could have risen as high as £725,000 had various clauses been triggered.

Injuries - including a fractured skull last October - have limited him to only 55 starts and 39 sub appearances in his four years with Derby, in which time he has scored 23 goals, 12 of them during 2011/12.

When Davies was first mentioned in connection with the Blues in May, Bristol City were also said to be interested, along with Leeds, whose location would now appear to rule them out of the running.

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

pazelle added 09:16 - Jul 7 He finished last season really well, would be well happy with this signing if true. Good finisher
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Karlosfandangal added 09:18 - Jul 7 Not sure on this one, as I have never seen him player but his stats seem very similair to Scotlands, would like a 20 a season man and hope Chopra could do the same, If we play with 2 up front then he may be the man with Martin on the left, However the system worked well last year so 12 a season from the bench would be very good, need to get rid of Ellington if Davies comes in

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Tillz9 added 09:20 - Jul 7 Think he would be a good choice of partner for Chopra. The 2 of them should be capable of getting over 30 goals between them providing injuries don't disrupt there season.
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jas0999 added 09:26 - Jul 7 Good player - when he plays - which isn't that often unfortunately. Could be a risky buy - but if fit, would be a good player.
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planetblue_2011 added 09:32 - Jul 7 Yeah I think sign him up he seems to have a good report apart from the injuries. Davies, chambers, maybe the Swiss keeper and judge be a great 4 players to bring in & the players can then fight for their place. COYB :-)
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ITFCforlife added 09:33 - Jul 7 wow, if he joins we will have a good attack Chopra Davies and with Scotland, Murray and possibly Murphy as back up. I think our midfield is good, we have two top championship wingers: Martin, who is improving and JET who I think will have a good year. We have enough CMs and we have youngsters as backup: Carson and Lawrence most notably. Our defence is poor but was improving throughout the season. We have Edwards, the captain, who tries hard but isnt the best right back. Cresswell who I think is a fantastic player and if he plays like last season then we will be lucky to hold onto him. We also have Smith who I think, with a top RCB could become a good player. We just need a rcb (probably chambers) and back-up (probably sonko). We have one or two youngsters who can try to push through this year, Whight and Ainsley. We need a GK i think it will be one of the following: the german guy, the guy on trial, Heaton, Loach

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alfromcol added 09:34 - Jul 7 With the way forward shown by Spain, Barcelona etc. In the new era Centre Forwards are a thing of the past. Clubs will be using lots of players in midfield who can break forward with skill and pace - JET and Martin are a very good start. More of the same please
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:40 - Jul 7 who is a 20 goal a season player, that we can afford to buy AND is available ,Now there 's a problem ! to many on here are fantasy league managers .
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 09:48 - Jul 7 alfromcol - i have to disagree, we arent Spain or Barca and the Championship is a much more physical and fast paced league. Big powerful forward i think would be good, especially alongside Chopra. Definitely want JET and Martin as key members of the side. Could even play Davies on his own up there. I think it gives us more options having that type of striker. If we sign Davies or another forward of his style, i think with Chopra and Scotland we would have a good adaptable forward line.

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alfromcol added 09:59 - Jul 7 Dozzells B I wasn't saying that he wouldn't be good, just that football will go through a change due to the way that success is coming to teams by not having a CF standing up front marked by 2 CH's. ITFC need to aspire to be the 'Spain, Barcelona etc' of the Championship.
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blue89 added 10:16 - Jul 7 Would be a great signing!! In Jewell we trust
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lilcornishblue added 10:22 - Jul 7 W this was out of the blue I was expecting more on chambers!!!! But man If we get him I would be so happy because he is so good it would make our other strikers work harder on and off the pitch to get in the games to stay in the team which would mean more goals and a better chance of winning games if we secure him,chambers and a good goal keeper like the one from munich we have on trial as we need a team that wants to get on that grid to score and stop goals to do so we need them to compete with each other to do better on and off the pitch to get their places this could be our YEAR!!!

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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 10:28 - Jul 7 alfromcol - no i know you werent, im just not convinced thats the way forward. It may work if you can field Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Alonso etc but not sure it would work in our league, and to be honest i dont want to see ten midfield players battling it out. Could be wrong but i would rather see 442 or our 451 with two wingers.
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Ipswich24 added 10:29 - Jul 7 We need pace up front Sam Baldock or Maynard on loan to offer us that threat in behind
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Langdon_Blue added 11:41 - Jul 7 Agree with Jas, if he stays fit, plays well and scores lots of goals for us then he would be a good signing, however if he comes here and is plagued with injuries then he would be a bad signing. Today, I will mainly be stating the obvious!
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Mark added 11:49 - Jul 7 According to Wiki the fee was £275K initial, £250K based on appearances and £200K if they got promoted to the Premier League within 3 years. So, the maximum Derby would have paid would be £525K. Derby will do well to get £1M for him, doubling their money on a player who had an injury prone time there and scored 23 goals in four years. I am not saying Davies won't be a good signing, and I am sure we will get him for well under £1M if he comes, it just seems others teams do better on transfer fees than we do. Take Lee Martin, a player we bought for £2M and it now seems may leave on a free transfer next summer as he is going into his final year without signing a new year.

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RetroBlue added 11:57 - Jul 7 Fingers crossed as they say. One thing we all know for a dead cert , is it will take most of July and probably half of August to finalise this deal ....if at all !!
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Tufty added 12:36 - Jul 7 I live near Derby & my pal who has a season ticket at derby is really disappointed about losing this guy, he reckons he could be as good as Lambert at the saints last term.
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wessextractorboy added 12:44 - Jul 7 I thought they meant Kelvin Davies. Would welcome him back tomorrow.
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TimmyH added 13:00 - Jul 7 hhmmm still not sure about him, he's never been prolific at Derby - it's the old link again between a player and a manager from the past, never worked for keane with his former players and didn't work for Ellington and PJ
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irishtim added 13:36 - Jul 7 Worth a try but not at 1million. Lets wait & see. Hope he makes his mind up faster than chambers.
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bedsitfc added 14:40 - Jul 7 ipswich24 - if we play 4-3-3 davies through the middle with martin and jet either side we will have enough pace to get in behind, and be able to take a midfielder off to bring on chops to go 4-4-2 dropping jet and martin back to midfield to change things
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WorcesterBlue added 16:51 - Jul 7 If Martin isn't going to sign a contract i'd rather we sell him now (but hope he does sign). As to no centre forwards Alfrolcom, only Spain and Barca play that way and frankly had Portugal had a decent centre forward as a fulcrum we'd be talking about copying their style of football now not Spain's. Yes play passing possession football but you are naive if you think strikers are a thing of the past.

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warwickblue added 16:58 - Jul 7 alfromcol I think the other thing that's worth remembering about Barcelona is that the majority of their players are local and most have been training together since they were about six or seven. It could be the way forward for ITFC but, if we started now, it might be ten or fifteen years before we could knock the ball around like that.
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JewellintheTown added 17:27 - Jul 7 Going to sign for a club in the South? I'd say we're more East from derby (or maybe South East) than South, but as long as he understands the direction of the goal I wont hold that against him if he signs for us.
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