Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is understood to want Town to pay a fee of £1 million for loan striker Daryl Murphy. The clubs are negotiating a deal for the Irishman but are yet to come to an agreement.
Bruce, who spoke with Blues manager Roy Keane last week, has previously said that Murphy isn’t in his plans at the Stadium of Light, while Town are keen to make his loan a permanent move. The 27-year-old is happy with the Blues and would like to stay at Portman Road.
Murphy is contracted to Sunderland for another two years and is on more than £20,000-a-week, around double the Blues’ highest wage. It is likely that much of the fee that Town would pay the Black Cats will be used by the Wearsiders to settle the remaining years of the Waterford-born man’s contract.