Town boss Roy Keane says he is closing in on his midfield replacement for the injured David Norris. Sunday’s Irish newspapers reported that the Blues are keen to bring forward November’s proposed signing of Bohemians youngster Gary Deegan.
Keane says he is narrowing his focus, but refused to be drawn on names: "There’s one I’ve got in mind.
"Sometimes you home in on the player you potentially really can get. There’s a lot of midfielders I admire out there, the Gerrards, the Lampards, but I’m not sure we’re in a position go and get them just yet.
”A lot of other managers speak about players at other football clubs, but I try not to do it.”
Deegan appeared likely to join the Blues in November when the Irish season ends, along with team-mate Brian Murphy, who TWTD revealed last Thursday is set to sign a pre-contract agreement with Town. However, reports in Ireland yesterday claimed that the Blues are looking to hasten his switch.
Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon wants to keep hold of the 21-year-old for as long as possible, with his club chasing three trophies at present, and has put a fee of €500,000 (£430,000) on his player’s head.
Town are unlikely to want to pay a fee of that magnitude for someone they could pick up for significantly less in a few weeks' time. Despite Deegan being out of contract in November, Bohemians and former club Shelbourne would both be due compensation under FIFA rules if he were to leave at the end of his deal. Wolves and Newcastle have also been linked.
One player Keane admits is unlikely to return to Portman Road is Giovani Dos Santos: "I’ve spoken to Harry Redknapp a number of times about one or two different players over the last few weeks and when Gio went back at the end of last season I always thought it would be difficult to get him back.
"When he first came here I raised my eyebrows thinking it was a good catch for Ipswich because he’s a talented boy.
”But you never know what might happen in the next week or two. We might have to wait until the last day to see what can happen, it’s different with loans anyway.
"As much as we’re homing in on one or two players, you have to be open-minded. Sometimes you make a call to a manager and hope he’ll get back to you. Some do, some don’t, and fingers crossed one or two might get back to me and a deal which we thought was dead might suddenly happen in the next week or so.”
Elsewhere, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has confirmed that Town’s attempt to sign striker Daryl Murphy is back on with discussions in progress: "Talks are ongoing as I understand it and we will just have to wait and see if these talks come to anything.”
Murphy was close to joining the Blues in a joint £5 million deal involving Dean Whitehead earlier in the summer and even got as far as having a medical at Portman Road.
That move collapsed when Hull City came in for the frontman, but talks between Murphy and the Tigers broke down and he is still at the Stadium of Light. Whitehead subsequently moved to Stoke.
TWTD revealed that the move was back on almost a fortnight ago, with a national newspaper incorrectly claiming that a deal had been done last week.
Keane says there have been no further enquiries regarding his players in recent days, but expects one or two departures as he wheels and deals in the final couple of weeks of the transfer window.