Town striker Connor Wickham has completed his move to Sunderland, signing a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light. The Blues have revealed the fee to be an initial £8.1 million rising to more than £12 million after additional clauses relating to appearances and achievements are triggered. TWTD understands that there is also a clause which will see the Blues receive a percentage of the profit from his future sale.
Chief executive Simon Clegg said: "As much as we would have liked to have kept Connor at Portman Road we have to be realistic and recognise that the offer from Sunderland was simply too good to turn down.
"The deal is by far the biggest transfer fee this club has ever received and I'm told this could be a record in terms of a player moving from the Championship into the Premier League for the first time.
"I know that every Town fan will join me in wishing Connor well for the future. We are proud that he has developed through our academy and what he has achieved in his time here and we will follow his ongoing progress with interest. We will now look carefully as to how best to utilise these funds to support Paul in strengthening the squad."
The Hereford-born striker moved to Town in 2006 after his serviceman father Stefan was posted to Colchester, having been with Reading’s academy up to that point. The Royals recommended the Blues’ youth set-up as the place in East Anglia where he should continue his development.
A regular in the U18s at 14, by which time he was already being tracked by Premier League scouts, Wickham made his first team bow at the age of 16 years and 11 days, coming on as a sub in a 3-1 home defeat to Doncaster Rovers in the closing weeks of Jim Magilton’s time as Town boss.
That beat Jason Dozzell’s previous record by 46 days, although unlike the Ipswich-born midfielder, Wickham didn’t score.
His first two senior goals followed in the Carling Cup victory over Shrewsbury at the New Meadow the following August. Wickham claimed a hat-trick of sorts as he also netted in a rare Town penalty shoot-out success after the match had ended 3-3. His first league goal came late on in a 1-0 home victory over Scunthorpe at Portman Road later that season.
In total, the striker made 37 starts and 35 sub appearances while at Portman Road, scoring 15 goals. Wickham also won England U16, U17, U19 and U21 caps while with the Blues, netting the winning goal as the U17s beat Spain 2-1 in the final of the European Championships last summer.
Nine of those have come since Paul Jewell took over as manager in January, the most any Town player has scored after the turn of a year since Darren Bent netted 10 in 2004.
While Wickham, both the Championship Young Player and Apprentice of the Year in 2010/11, moving to Sunderland may seem a surprise, manager Steve Bruce has been admirer of his son Alex’s former team-mate for some time.
Two years ago, shortly after his former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane had taken over at Portman Road, he made an audacious but unsuccessful four-man swap offer involving Grant Leadbitter, Carlos Edwards, Dean Whitehead and Daryl Murphy.
Wickham becomes the most expensive player to have moved from the Championship to the Premier League without previous experience in the top flight.
In 2006 Theo Walcott made the switch from Southampton to Arsenal for a fee which, after a renegotiation in 2008, eventually totalled £9 million, having initially been set at £12 million including clauses.
The deal also makes Wickham Town’s most expensive sale, smashing the £6.5 million Newcastle paid the Blues for Kieron Dyer in the summer of 1999.
Dyer’s fee allowed then-manager George Burley to bring in the likes of John McGreal, Jermaine Wright, Gary Croft and later Marcus Stewart and Martijn Reuser as the Blues finally won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.
Paul Jewell will now look to add to his squad in a similar manner with hopefully the same end result. After a number of summer exits, Town look short of players in several areas including left-back, right-back, right-sided central defence, central midfield, wide midfield, up front and perhaps even in goal if Márton Fülöp moves on.
Despite adding Michael Chopra and Nathan Ellington to his squad already this summer, Jewell looks certain to bring in another striker to replace Wickham, presumably an aerial threat to complement his previous two signings. Jason Scotland, a Sheffield Wednesday target, and Tamás Priskin look likely to move on, while Ronan Murray seems set to go out on loan.
Ellington’s former Wigan strike partner Jason Roberts was understood to be a Jewell target earlier in the summer but the Grenada international appears to still be in Blackburn’s plans for the season ahead.
QPR striker Rob Hulse could well come into Jewell’s thoughts, the Town manager having signed him for £1.75 million from Sheffield United when Derby boss in July 2008.
The 31-year-old, who started his career with hometown club Crewe and has also played for Hyde United (loan), West Brom and Leeds, joined Neil Warnock’s now-promoted side last summer for a £1 million fee but managed only 13 starts and nine sub appearances, scoring two goals.
Despite Hulse, who is contracted to Rangers until 2013, stating that he hopes to establish himself at Loftus Road in the Premier League in the new season, a move back to the Championship would be little surprise with Millwall having already made an unsuccessful approach.
Out-of-contract former Portsmouth frontman David Nugent has also been linked with the Blues this summer but is understood to be on his way to Leicester City.
Elsewhere in the squad, Preston central defender Sean St Ledger, another player also linked with Leicester, is someone Jewell has been chasing since January and the Wickham cash could lead to the Blues firming up that interest.
St Ledger’s Lilywhites and Ireland team-mate Keith Treacy, a left winger, is also understood to be on Town’s wish-list, although Premier League Newcastle have been linked in recent days.
Burnley’s Dean Marney is a central midfield target, but we understand there is nothing in reports linking Michael Brown, a free agent since leaving Portsmouth at the end of the season.
Doncaster’s James Coppinger is a player Town have been chasing all summer with a £300,000 offer having been turned down last month and conflicting reports in South Yorkshire as to whether a second larger bid has also been rebuffed by Rovers.
The Blues also made an unsuccessful bid for Doncaster striker Billy Sharp but Jewell has said another approach for the former Sheffield United striker is not in his thoughts having signed Chopra, with Rovers apparently after £3.25 million for his services.
The large Wickham fee is also likely to lead to speculation that the Blues could make renewed attempts to sign former loanee Jimmy Bullard on a permanent basis, despite Jewell ruling the club out of the race a fortnight ago.
Bullard, who is understood to have spoken to QPR this summer, is still to move on from Hull City but reports in East Yorkshire recently claimed that the 32-year-old was talking to the Tigers about a seven-figure settlement of the two remaining years of his £45,000-a-week contract which makes up 21% of their wage bill.
Jewell already had cash at his disposal but the significant initial fee for Wickham is likely to see him set his sights slightly higher than he would otherwise have done.