Newcastle United full-back Danny Simpson has revealed that he came within an hour of rejoining the Blues last summer before moving to St James’ Park. The former Manchester United man had previously been on loan at Portman Road in the 2007/08 season, making seven starts and one sub appearance.
The 23-year-old told the Newcastle programme for yesterday’s game: "I was close to signing for Ipswich in the summer, but it fell through at the last minute.
"I was literally an hour away from it going through and, for whatever reason, it didn’t happen. I was on my way there, fully expecting to sign for Ipswich and excited at the prospect, but deals break down at the last minute quite often. That’s football for you.”
Simpson says he is delighted that he subsequently joined the Magpies, initially on loan before his switch from Old Trafford was made permanent in January: "Thankfully, my agent got a call from Chris [Hughton] and a few days later I was on my way to Newcastle on loan. And now look; nine months later and I’m back in the Premiership, so I’m absolutely buzzing.”
Meanwhile, a newspaper in the North-East has perhaps inevitably speculated that Nicky Butt could interest the Blues this summer. Roy Keane’s former Manchester United team-mate has announced that he will be leaving St James’ Park, having ended his six-year career with the Magpies by holding aloft the Championship trophy yesterday.
Ex-England international Butt, 35, is a free agent and is very much the type of experienced campaigner that Keane has said he will be targeting in the summer.
Elsewhere, Town owner and chairman Marcus Evans's fortune is estimated at £510 million in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List, up from £400 million in last year's list.
Given that Evans wholly owns his companies, assessing his worth is a near impossible task with other previous estimates putting the figure above a billion.