Connor Wickham is unlikely to leave the Blues and sign a professional contract with a Premier League club before his 17th birthday in March, according to his agent Paul Goddard. Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and several other Premier League clubs are all reported to have been targeting the England U17 frontman.
Goddard, a former Town striker and academy coach who these days works for Jonathan Barnett’s Stellar Group, says Ipswich is currently the best place for Wickham: "Connor will most likely be staying with Town, but I have to say that some agents would have had him set for a Premier League club by now. There has certainly been no lack of interest in the boy.
"I believe that Connor will be better served being in and around the first team of a club like Ipswich than being lower down the pecking order with a Premier League club.
"Nothing is signed and sealed yet, but this is the way it's looking. The boy is not 17 until March."
Wickham, who will be able to sign a professional contract when he is 17 on March 31st, has been tracked by Premier League clubs since his days as a Town schoolboy, having joined the Blues from Reading’s youth set-up after his serviceman father was posted to Colchester.
Town are desperate to hold on to a player styled the ‘new Wayne Rooney’ by the tabloids with chief executive Simon Clegg recently telling TWTD that Wickham had signed a pre-contract agreement, although admitting that it wasn’t legally binding.
Goddard says he understands why there is so much interest in Wickham: "I sat down the other day and put down all the attributes a striker ideally needs to have. With Connor all the boxes have to be ticked.
"He is keen to listen and learn and there is no doubt he is destined to be something very, very big in the game."
Town manager Roy Keane has reiterated that he will be looking to add to his squad in January: "I have one or two potential targets, but it's going to be hard, because of financial reasons and where we are in the league. One or two might be at Premier League clubs.
"It could be a busy few weeks ahead, because some of my players need to go out on loan. There are a few who are not even in the squad at the moment, and yet should be playing regularly in the Championship. I don't want their careers to stand still."
Meanwhile, TWTD understands that Jack Ainsley won’t be extending his loan with Blue Square Premier side Rushden and Diamonds with Town unhappy that the defender has been given only 45 minutes' football during his two months at Nene Park.
Elsewhere, former Blues loan keeper Asmir Begovic has praised Town and manager Roy Keane for preparing him for life as a Premier League regular with Portsmouth: "My loan spell with Roy Keane's Ipswich helped me a lot. The manager was top-class, he gave me a chance to play. It's vital for a keeper to get a run of games. When you're playing well your confidence goes up.
"Ipswich gave me another kind of experience. I'm grateful to them. If I didn't have that two months I may not have been prepared for getting put in at the deep end at Portsmouth. It did me the world of good."
Begovic, who has been receiving rave reviews with Pompey since his return to Fratton Park, made six appearances while at Portman Road.