Former Wigan right-back Pascal Chimbonda is reportedly set to become the first signing of Paul Jewell’s Town era. The 31-year-old Blackburn defender is understood to have turned down a £500,000 switch to QPR to be reunited with his old Latics boss at Portman Road.
Guadeloupe-born Chimbonda began his career with Le Havre and Bastia in France before making his mark in English football with Jewell’s Wigan in their first season in the Premier League, 2005/06, when he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.
Much to the annoyance of Jewell and Wigan, Chimbonda handed in a transfer request on the final day of the season, a £4.5 million move to Spurs eventually being negotiated the following August.
After two years at Tottenham the occasional left-back or centre-half joined Roy Keane’s Sunderland, only to return to White Hart Lane six months later for the £3 million the Black Cats had originally paid for him.
In August 2009, the 5ft 11½ tall defender moved on to Blackburn for a reported £2.5 million but this season the once-capped French international has made only three Premier League starts and his time at Ewood Park appears to be coming to an end.
Jewell made reference to Chimbonda last week when talking about his transfer strategy: "My philosophy will be to try and bring decent players into the football club [wherever they’re playing].
"When I brought Antonio Valencia to Wigan people were asking ‘Who’s he?’, and they sold him for £16 million two years later. Same with Pascal Chimbonda.
"You can take players from obscure places. Supporters always want sexy signings, there’s no doubt about that, but we have to get our hands dirty and roll our sleeves up and have hungry fighters as well.”
Town are very much in need of a right-back with loanee Gianni Zuiverloon returning to West Brom after his loan was cut short over Christmas.