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

Hermann_eats_puffin added 14:04 - Jul 25 Whilst I will be absolutely gutted to see Cresswell leave this is just the nature of the game and this will not be the first or last time this happens to us or other clubs. I very much doubt that either PJ or Jewell want Cresswell to go because they both want to build a squad capable of getting promoted to the Premiership and Cresswell is an outstanding player. I was really looking forward to watching a more youthful backline of Cresswell, Chambers, Smith & Hewitt (when he's back from injury and gets some games) get some games together this season. However the reality of football is that when bigger clubs come in for your players there's often little that can be done. If one of your players plays extremely well then they will catch the eye of other clubs it's a simple as that. When we bought Cresswell from Tranmere and Hewitt from Macclesfield I doubt very much that either set of fans wanted to see either player leave but Ipswich are a bigger club than them and the players moved to us. Cresswell had a fantastic season and if a Premiership club, such as Villa in this case, come in for one of our players there's a good chance that they will move on because they all want to play at the highest level possible and they will also get paid more. It's like when we missed out on promotion and Dyer was sold Newcastle. Or to go back further when Wark was sold to Liverpool or Mühren to Man Utd (although part of the need for money related to some of the deals in the 80's were in part to pay for the Pioneer stand). Even when we were in the top flight if one of the bigger clubs comes in for one of your players it's not always possible to stand in their way. Whilst it's not inevitable to every single player approached will make the move there's always a good chance that if your players do very well and catch the eye they will be poached by bigger clubs. We have to accept that in certain situations we are a selling club and always have been. What's important is how the money is reinvested and whether we can find another gem of a player like Cresswell to replace him. At the same time it might be a good opportunity for Whight to get his chance and grab it to progress. In now way do I want to see Cresswell leave but if he does life will go on and so will Town. COYB!!

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ChrisMakin2012 added 14:06 - Jul 25 Clegg probably thinks Cresswell is a Guam javelin thrower!
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itfc94 added 14:25 - Jul 25 Sick and tired of selling young and hungry players this will come back to bite us on the backside, I bet. I've been regretting Rhodes all year, yet we kept Wickham over him. Come on Cressy
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michaeldownunder added 14:28 - Jul 25 I would Cresswell to stay but what does he want to do? Maybe we should ask him that before jumping on the back of PJ and Simon Clegg
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itfc1981 added 14:32 - Jul 25 Whats the point.
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JewellintheTown added 14:49 - Jul 25 Bunch of drama queens on here today - nothings been announced, its all rumours so far. Get a grip until somethings announced, then if he is going you can decide if life is still worth living for.
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mrmorisato added 14:52 - Jul 25 If AC does leave for £3.5M then it would be an excellent piece of business for the club, with these new financial fair play rules being introduced it makes strong business sense to make profit from outgoing transfers. It will put the club in a stronger financial position to other championship clubs, yes I will be disappointed if AC does leave just like I have been disappointed when Town needed to sell a star player each season to balance the books in the nineties, the policy worked as the club had a 5 year plan to gain promotion and in the end we succeeded! What PJ is doing is a rebuilding process, we've already recruited a GK, CB and a MD player in Luongo, and I'm confident that there will be more and I for one can't wait for the start of the season.

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MickMillsTash added 15:03 - Jul 25 Would be surprised if Lambert spent 3.5Mill on Cresswell. Cresswell lacks pace which limits him at both ends of the pitch, he does not seem to have a trick either, though he did improve during the season. I t would be shame to see him go as he is certainly a nice footballer and good to watch, not sure his career will benefit from a move to the prem right now.
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jlcollins added 17:40 - Jul 25 No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no, keep ya bloody 6m, we don't want it!!!!!! We are startin 2 build a good back line. So selling him now would only have a negative impact on the defence. He has 3 years on his contract, if we don't get close 2 promotion in 2 seasons cash in. But for now p*ss off villa!!!!!!! COYB
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BuckieBlue added 18:03 - Jul 25 Ok most of us on here don't want Cresswell to go, but if ME wants to accept bid surely he must allow Pj to have a replacement in mind first, otherwise we're another piece of the jigsaw short as we head into pre-season games and we need a good start to season. (And if Villa won't wait and drop their interest, then great we keep him).
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Hally543 added 18:17 - Jul 25 Well I'm really glad I got his name on my shirt at the weekend, intelligent move by me, didn't consider the fact that we might sell him haha. Hard to say no to £6mil if they offer that much (unlikely though)
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thebeat added 19:55 - Jul 25 dont go Aaron, the midlands is a total dump.i should know i lived!! there for 33 years!!
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TimmyH added 20:23 - Jul 25 If somehow he does go it will show just how little ambition we really do have, it all becomes about money. I can't see Villa forking out 6 mill for him but can see him going for around 3+. As others have said it really puts the spanner in the works for PJ trying to build a younger team for the future. The most worrying thing is even if we don't let him go it gets Cressy thinking to himself 'do I really want to play in the Championship this season'? and that's where the problem lies! - bloody Lambert is a pain in the ass! he's one of the least loyal managers on the circuit at the moment.

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blue_moon09 added 20:32 - Jul 25 Nothing official has been announced by the club so why all the drama??? Most of the idiots that leave comments on here have never seen him play anyway! get down to portman road support the team then maybe the club won't be forced to sell these gems.
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TimmyH added 20:34 - Jul 25 @keanish - I know what you mean (page 2) if this does happen it really is showing you the way football is going! and in a way makes you despair. A lot of the big guns/Premiership teams must trawl through the league below to see who their respective teams players of the year are, if young and progressing there is a good chance of them being grabbed by the enticement of the top league in the world and with the wages to go with it. The club can only do so much to keep him and with the lack of loyalty from the players there is a good chance he will want to go to Villa.

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Talbs77 added 20:42 - Jul 25 I know what you guys are saying, it would be a disapointment however it would be good business if he goes for £5M + however I doubt we will get that and with tranmere getting 20%, we need to get as good a return as possible as the lad has massive potential especially with that sweet left foot he's got. May sound naive but left back is lot easier slot to replace than say a top striker. Whats the news on Martin signing an extension? I heard at end of season town were negotiating a new deal but heard nothing since?

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Taricco_Fan added 21:07 - Jul 25 We are a selling club and always have been. Our debt is huge and the club has to be run responsibly. You could argue that getting to the Premier league is the best way to pay down our debts but the reality is we will always have to sell our best young players to balance the books in the short term. I like Cresswell and it would be sad to see him go, but Villa's offer is more than fair for a player of his ability. It makes good business sense to seriously consider the offer.

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runaround added 21:40 - Jul 25 Even though Cresswell played well last year, if we could get in excess of £4mil for him I would take it as he is only 1 player and we could get 4 or 5 good championship players for that. However I would only accept it if most or all the cash went on team strengthening not servicing the debt
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dirtydingusmagee added 21:41 - Jul 25 cant believe this, it would be a real s'#t day if we sell Cressy, It would show reall ck of ambition in TOWN.I WOULD LOSE WHAT FAITH HAD BEEN RESTOERD BY RECENT SIGNINGS .grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
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Warkys_Tash added 22:46 - Jul 25 If the club sell him then it beyond a joke, I thought we are supposed to be building a team to get us promoted - not selling our best players after only a year with the club. This is another Rhodes & Wickham disaster coming up.
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Brockleyblue added 01:34 - Jul 26 @Warkys_Tash: how was the Wickham deal a disaster? We paid nothing for him and sold him for £8 million, potentially rising to £12 million. Either way it's a lot of money for a player who, on the evidence of last season, may not make it as a Premiership footballer. A disaster possibly for Sunderland but not Ipswich. I agree with you though re. Rhodes. That deal was stupid, unnecessary and rotten for ITFC. As for Cresswell, Villa seem to be offering a decent sum of money for a left back with one season's experience in the Championship. To put this into perspective, Tottenham paid Southampton an initial £5 million for a promising left back called Gareth Bale. Aaron Cresswell is solid and very reliable but he is no Gareth Bale.

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