TWTD understands that Aston Villa’s move for Blues defender Aaron Cresswell is still very much in its early stages. Last night, national newspaper reports claimed a deal which would see the 22-year-old on his way to Villa Park could be completed within the next 24 hours, however, that appears unlikely to be the case.

The clubs are believed to still be discussing the player’s valuation with some sources reporting that Villa, managed by former Norwich boss Paul Lambert, are willing to pay £3.5 million for the Liverpudlian.

Town will almost certainly be trying to negotiate a higher figure with claims of a £6 million price tag having been put on his head, although it’s unlikely that a relatively inexperienced left-back such as Cresswell would go for anything approaching that sort of fee.

Cresswell cost the Blues tribunal-set compensation of £240,000 rising to £520,000 based on appearances and promotion after he left Prenton Park at the end of his contract last summer.

Tranmere would be entitled 20% of Town's profit if and when the full-back is sold. In addition to the £240,000 initial fee, the tribunal awarded Rovers an additional £45,000 after Cresswell makes 15, 30, 45 and 60 appearances for the Blues, plus a further £100,000 should Town reach the Premier League by the summer of 2014.

Cresswell has so far made 46 appearances for Town, scoring one goal, taking the fee Town have paid up to now to £375,000.

In October, having impressed in his first couple of months at Portman Road, Cresswell extended his Town contract until June 2015 with the option of a further year.

Elsewhere, Derby boss Nigel Clough is considering whether to risk striker Steve Davies in a pre-season friendly at Mansfield this evening with the Rams anxious that the 24-year-old, who is set to leave Pride Park this summer, avoids injury.

Davies has been a Blues target all summer but the clubs have been unable to agree a fee and last week Town manager Paul Jewell rang Clough to tell him he could look elsewhere for the big frontman he is looking to add to his squad.

Clough says Davies’s situation could become clearer towards the end of the week: "There is still a fair bit of interest in him. The interest seemed to cool at the end of last week but there are one or two possibilities now and we will know more towards the weekend."

The Rams boss says his club’s price tag, believed to be around the £1 million mark, isn’t unfair: "You cannot base the valuation on appearances because Steven has not been ever-present for three or four years. But when he has been on the pitch, he has scored goals. He has a good goals-per-game ratio.

"We also know the asking price of trying to replace him. So the valuation is based on those two things, really.

"We don't think we are being unreasonable with our valuation and we hope we get something near it."

Photo: Action Images

irishtim added 11:34 - Jul 25 If we sell cressy, the money we recieve has to be upfront. Then invest it all in improving the overall squad. Would rather we didnt sell though.
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Jimmys_Law added 11:36 - Jul 25 Scrap what I just said, Leeds have gone and accepted another offer for Snodgrass from Norwich.
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brian_a_mul added 11:41 - Jul 25 In fairness to Ipswich town FC we generally manage to extract the max transfer fees for our youngsters. Ambrose, Bent, Bramble, Dyer, Wickham, Wright etc. Good point regards Alba to Barca. Also in due respect to all positions in a football team, the core of the team is vital (GK, CD, Mid, Striker). We have strengthened these key areas and with a new striker coming our way soon (hopefully) I think we will be far better off than last season regardless if we sell Cressy. Maybe (if we do sell +I hope we keep him!!) the 3.5mil + could go along way towards securing a quality strike partner for Chops!

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Armine6 added 11:45 - Jul 25 2 pence in the slot…..click! Well...in the end if the boy wants to go then...regardless of price, then let him go...sadly, it is future and his career. I think the days of pledging allegiance to a club for your playing career is a dying cliché. Yes I believe he is a great player for the future of the club, but the club cannot refuse that kind of return on investment. On a positive note...where there's one there is another. (PJ found this one) I will still be there 1st game of the season until the end, and support whomever is in the team.

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wychyblue added 11:51 - Jul 25 I know for a fact that Danny Collins really enjoyed it at portman road and was going to come back at the end of the season until big sam did a deal with Pulis (despite Pulis saying he didn't want him to go back out on loan when Danny asked to go back to ITFC)). Would love to come to Portman Road but has a baby son and wife is from Sunderland and the distance is a bit of a stumbling block.But don't rule it out.

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BrandonsBlues added 12:08 - Jul 25 Now the transfer season really is kicking off. Probably why we were also after that other young left back earlier who decided not to join
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are_these_the_days added 12:17 - Jul 25 Stumagoo I think that's the real problem. RK wasted so much of MEs money , it's only natural he'll be looking to recoup some
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Saltashblues99 added 12:22 - Jul 25 i hope ac stays but on the other hand 6m would do.
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Tractastic added 12:26 - Jul 25 As long as the money is reinvested in the team i would say 3.5 million plus is good business for a player who has had one season in the championship. If the money is not reinvested then its another issue and questions have to be asked? You can't blame a player wanting to play in the premiership so whatever happens i wish him all the best.
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BrandonsBlues added 12:28 - Jul 25 Might need to have a look at what Portsmouth have got left
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ArnieM added 12:35 - Jul 25 We are now a selling club it sems. Am so pissed off by this news today. Not becasue a club has come in for a young prospect , but because we ALWAYS bloody sell...and we dont actually even need/ have to !
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Mark added 12:51 - Jul 25 I would be sad to see him leave, but at £4M say it could be good business. At least we are buying players now whose value goes up rather than down for the first time since Walters. Under Burley we had to sell a star player pretty much every season on the way to promotion, and perhaps we are back in that situation with Jewell having to sell Wickham last season and now maybe Cresswell. It goes to show what a massive opportunity we wasted under Magilton and Keane when the money was there! Re. Whight, as Jewell did not consider him ready when we badly needed a left back at Doncaster in the final match of last season (choosing Smith instead) then I doubt he is a ready replacement for Cresswell. Re. Delaney, please don't suggest playing him at left-back!! Smith ditto.

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wibbletown added 12:53 - Jul 25 I think we all need to get a reality check. Getting 3.5mil for a player who has blown hot and cold and who we bought only last year for £250,000ish is great business. There is no way we will get £6mil for him and as long as the money is invested in the side then we could get 3 or 4 positions covered and have a better shot at promotion.
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Keaneish added 13:00 - Jul 25 To some of these points, we can't turn down any profit...that's the point! Anything big and they're off. Anything not even that big and they're off too! Rhodes, Wickham, Cresswell (likely)...one a season... Bored of it.
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nitroblue1970 added 13:02 - Jul 25 Hmmmm....remember when we sold Keiron Dyer..maybe...just maybe..... history could repeat itself
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murhtuG added 13:03 - Jul 25 It was inevitable that, sooner or later, there would be interest in some of our promising youngsters (Cressy, JET, maybe Martin and Smith, even). £3.5m is fairly big money, £6m a fortune. How many payers have ITFC ever sold for even the lesser of those two figures? I'd obviously like Cresswell to stay, but we should not be surprised at receiving bids for our decent players.

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simonsays added 13:03 - Jul 25 Disgraceful!
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Jimmys_Law added 13:14 - Jul 25 @wibbletown, don't agree with you at all. Cresswell hasn't blown hot and cold and was our most consistent performer last season, alongside Murphy. Also, you know that not all of the money raised will be reinvested in players. Remember that only around £2-2.5 million of Wickham's £8.1 million move has been spent so far. Most of the money will disappear, probably paying off debts or interest on those debts. Plus, as many have already said, where will we find another LB in time for the new season that can fill Cressie's boots?! ... Nowhere!

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SWBlue86 added 13:20 - Jul 25 3.5 mill would be a decent fee for a player we payed less than £500k for only 12 months ago. Cresswell is good at this level but he is not exactly the next Mick Mills. To be honest he is better off staying with Town for another season and developing by playing week in, week out. Hopefully he stays but if we get 5 times what we spent on him then that is a decent result for town as well. Jewell had better start deploying those scouts on the lower leagues agian....we need another left back.

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Middle2605 added 13:27 - Jul 25 They can have him for Bent!
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AndyUK61873 added 13:29 - Jul 25 This will be a great bit of business, like I always say we are a business, like every business money is the key factor. This is why Evans is a successful businessman, he takes emotion out of the equation and makes decision on the facts he has at hand. We are a barely a Top 50 team in the country, we will need money to balance the book. Form what we have cenrretly spent this is a 700% profit. I would rather see us get out of debt with some big sales and stay as a Top 50 team than stay deep in debt and become a Top 100 team.

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Tiggs added 13:29 - Jul 25 Now we will see where ambition lies.........
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MGNottsBlue added 13:38 - Jul 25 Some unbelievably naive comments on here, does anyone seriously think the club can afford to turn down an offer of £3.5m (which, by the way, is more than I think he is worth). This represents a massive profit on what we paid for him and allows us to re-invest some of the proceeds in new players as well as stick some in the bank to help pay the bills. Yes he is a good player but he isn't irreplacable and certainly wouldn't have got us promoted on his own...!

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tim added 13:43 - Jul 25 not sure about any other fees involved but based on the numbers in the article here's what we'd actually get: 4m = 2900000 5m = 3700000 6m = 4500000
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Garv added 13:57 - Jul 25 Very disappointing if he does leave.
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