On-loan midfielder Jack Colback has confirmed that he’d like to make a permanent move away from Sunderland, as revealed by boss Roy Keane over the weekend.
Colback told the club site that he'd prefer not to go on loan for a third time: "Ideally I want to settle down at a club. If Sunderland turned around and said I would be available on a permanent deal then I would have to look at that because I don't want to keep going out on loan.
"I want to become part of a team and build for the future. If that's at Ipswich, then fine."
But the left-sided midfield player or full-back, whose current spell is up on January 14th, isn’t entirely ruling out a further loan: "Anything can happen in football and time will tell.”
Speaking on Saturday, manager Keane said he could see Colback’s position: "I’ve had a conversation with Jack and sometimes a player wants something more permanent, which I understand 100%.
"Don’t think every player wants to go out on loan. What’s the benefit to Jack of going on loan at Ipswich? Some players want a bit of security, a bit of certainty about where their future lies.”
Keane confirmed that he’d like to sign last season’s Town Players’ Player of the Year but was concerned about the size of the fee Sunderland that might be after: "If you think Jack Colback’s going to be cheap, Brucey’s sold some young players over the last year or two, Martyn Waghorn [who joined Leicester for £3 million last summer] and people like that, for big money.
"Yes, of course, I’d like to sign him. But it’s dangerous having this conversation because he’s under contract at Sunderland. Jack Colback is my type of player, you know what you’re going to get with him — honesty, he’s hungry, he did well last year. But there’s a long way to go on that yet.
"If we can’t agree a fee with Sunderland, and we might not have any money to spend on Jack, then Jack will be going back or, worst case scenario, he’ll be going to another club, permanently.”
Colback says he doesn’t know whether Sunderland will allow him to play in the FA Cup at Chelsea on Sunday, although Keane has previously said that none of his loan players would be available.
Photo: ITFC