Former Town loanee Paul Gerrard is again being linked with a permanent move to Portman Road. The Nottingham Forest man has a year left on his current contract at the City Ground and would command a fee.

Joe Royle is a big fan of the 32-year-old who emerged from Oldham's youth system during the Town manager's tenure at Boundary Park.

Royle then took Gerrard to Everton for £1 million but the Heywood-born keeper never really established himself at Goodison Park, spending time on loan at Oxford in 1998/99 and joining the Blues for a month in 2002, making five appearances.

The former England U21 international was set to stay at Portman Road for a longer spell until he dislocated a kneecap in a freak training ground accident.

Periods on loan at Sheffield United and Forest followed before he joined the Tricky Trees permanently last summer.

However, new boss Gary Megson may have indicated that he doesn't want to keep Gerrard when he made an unsuccessful bid for Rotherham stopper Mike Pollitt - another reported Town target - ahead of transfer deadline day in March.

Gerrard would probably cost the Blues a fee somewhere in the region of £200,000 and looks a more likely target than Pollitt, who lunchtime reports suggest will join Wigan for around £250,000 later this week.

Kelvin Davis's departure for Sunderland yesterday means Royle has money to spend, although it is likely to be significantly less than the £1 million reported by some sources earlier today.

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