Hassan Kachloul has apologised to George Burley for his sudden change of heart and said that the decision was the hardest he has had to make in football.
Speaking on his own website the Moroccan said: "Despite recently announcing my intentions to sign for Ipswich, I have now decided to sign for Aston Villa. I realise this is going to surprise and possibly disappoint some people, but I made my decision for purely footballing reasons."
He continued: "All the same, this was an extremely difficult decision and one I have not taken lightly. I spent the last few days of my holiday mulling over my decision. Ultimately, I decided to go to Villa Park."
As for Town: "I would like to offer my apologies to George Burley, David Sheepshanks and to the Ipswich Town fans. This had been the hardest decision of my career and I am genuinely sorry to let these people down. As I said before I was greatly impressed by Ipswich, and by George in particular. I wish them all the best for the season and I know they will be successful. When I told George Burley I was planning to move to Ipswich, I genuinely believed I was making the right decision. However a move to Aston Villa is a dream for me and I am pleased to be joining one of the biggest clubs in the country."
It seems the lure of European football which had swung him towards Town last week did not hold the same sway this. He also repeated his wish to play for a club with ambitions which matched his own, last week that was us, this week it's Villa: "I have always said that I wanted to play for a club that matched my own ambition and I believe that with the players available at Villa I'm doing this. This was a purely football decision. I was extremely impressed by John Gregory's football ideas and visions, which match my own very closely."
Didn't that whole paragraph appear in last week's statement but with the word Ipswich replacing the word Villa and the name George Burley replacing the name John Gregory?
With the Kachloul transfer chapters seemingly now over, George Burley will turn his attentions to players elsewhere. When he announced he had a bid in for a player, eventually named as Kachloul, he said he had other irons in the fire should that bid fail. We're sure plenty of names will be placed in the frame over the next few days.
This week's look at the developing Portman Road sees the North Stand still flat and with large drills starting to be put to work. At the othee end work on the front section of the South Stand upper tier continues. Pictures of both can be found here: http://www.twtd.co.uk/development