Sunderland boss Steve Bruce says Town are on the verge of signing Black Cats keeper Márton Fülöp. Town made an enquiry regarding the £1 million-rated Hungarian international last week.
Bruce says the former Spurs man is talking personal terms with the Blues: "Márton Fülöp is on the edge of joining Ipswich.
"They are talking personal terms as I understand it, so something should be finalised shortly as long as those talks go well."
An international team-mate and close friend of Tamás Priskin, Fülöp started his career with MTK Hungaria during which time he went on loan to Elöre and Siófok, also in his homeland.
After a three-day trial in July 2004, the 6ft 5in tall keeper joined Spurs. In 2004/05 he spent time on loan at Chesterfield, then the following season moved on to Coventry on a similar basis.
In November 2006 he joined Sunderland, making his move to the Stadium of Light a permanent one in the following January for a fee of £900,000.
Fulop, who has won 21 Hungarian caps, moved on loan to Leicester in August 2007 and was expected to stay with the Foxes until the end of the season. However, after the clubs failed to agree a fee for his permanent move to the Walkers Stadium in the following January — Leicester offered £1 million, Sunderland wanted £3 million — he returned to Wearside.
In February 2008 he briefly joined Stoke on loan but was recalled after four days to cover an injury at Sunderland, however, the Potters and Black Cats agreed a £3 million fee that summer but the move eventually broke down.
Last season Fülöp made only 14 appearances for the Black Cats with Craig Gordon the first choice and Trevor Carson the regular sub. More recently Belgian U21 international Simon Mignolet has also moved to the Stadium of Light. Gordon suffered a broken arm in pre-season and Bruce is looking to sign David James.
Towards the end of the campaign Fülöp joined Manchester City on an emergency loan basis as cover for the injured Shay Given, but his move to Eastlands was never expected to stretch beyond the final games of the Premier League season.
Blues boss Roy Keane has stated that he likes to have three keepers in his squad and with Richard Wright departing in the summer will want an additional glovesman to compete with Brian Murphy and Arran Lee-Barrett. TWTD first reported the Blues’ interest in Fülöp in May.
Yesterday Fülöp, who has a year left on his Sunderland contact, was linked with newly-promoted La Liga side Hercules but he understood to have turned down the move to Spain. Anderlecht and Olympiakos were also reportedly interested earlier in the summer, along with a couple of Premier League sides.
Over the weekend, the Blues were mentioned in connection with former Manchester United keeper Roy Carroll, now with Odense in Denmark. However, the Northern Irishman says he knows nothing of the story: "Nothing, absolutely nothing! That story is probably a good reason not to return to England at this time of the year as the press is always extra busy!
"If I am going to leave Odense it would only be for Real Madrid, but I am probably a bit too late for that.”
Elsewhere, reported Town target Gary Hooper has completed his move to Celtic.