Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws says Owls target Franny Jeffers needs to play first team football for the good of his career. The former Blues loanee could line-up against his old team-mates at Portman Road on Saturday.
Laws said: "At times in the past Francis seems to have sacrificed his career for the sake of staying in the Premier League.
"He got the big money move from Everton to Arsenal and has never quite managed to kick on from there.
"He's probably never played more than 10 to 15 Premier League games in a season, but if he joined us he would get that regular first team football that any player needs.
"Now is the time for him to take some positive action for the benefit of his own career.
"He's perhaps stayed at certain clubs too long, rather than move on to somewhere new even if that meant dropping down a division."
Town's attempts to sign Jeffers collapsed due to the player's required personal terms, understood to be £10,000-a-week. Wednesday are understood to have agreed a fee with Blackburn of around £600,000.
Meanwhile, Town midfielder Gavin Williams has undergone an MRI scan on the ankle injury he sustained on Sunday. Town hope to know the results at some point today.
Elsewhere, former trialist Arsène Menessou has moved on to Aston Villa to try to win a deal there. The Le Havre B right-back failed to win a deal with the Blues despite playing in the friendlies at Crawley and Bury.
Get the fastest and most comprehensive Ipswich Town news service at ipswichtown.footballlatest.co.uk.