Blues boss Paul Jewell says that despite striker Connor Wickham having been sold for an initial £8.1 million earlier in the week, the Blues won’t be spending that kind of cash during this transfer window. However, the Town manager believes owner and chairman Marcus Evans will back him as he looks to add at least three or four more signings to his squad before the start of the season, with chief executive Simon Clegg having confirmed that the cash will be reinvested in the squad.
Jewell said: "If I come up with a player and that player is going to improve the squad, then the owner will back me.
"It doesn’t mean there’s a ridiculous amount of money to spend. Just because we’ve got £8 million in, people might expect that we’re going to spend £8 million. It doesn’t work that way.
"But there will be money there to strengthen the team. It’s a long season, so let’s see how things go and we were in discussions with three or four players anyway, whether Connor was going to be here or not.
"We want players to come to Ipswich who are hungry, who want success and have that desire that we have.”
The Blues boss, who said he is yet to learn precisely how much of the fee he'll get to spend, is conscious not to pay over the odds just because other clubs know Town have received the cash: "The problem is that when you then go and ask about a player, the price goes up.
"We’ve got to be strong in the transfer market, put a price on players that we’d like and try not to get ripped off just because we’ve got a few quid.
"I want to be prudent as well as ambitious. I think the quality of player won’t change because we’ve got that money, we were always looking for quality players.”
Jewell, who expects to sign another player next Tuesday and hopes another will follow soon afterwards, is looking for "at least another three or four” additions before the start of the season, having already brought in Michael Chopra, Ãvar Ingimarsson, Nathan Ellington and Aaron Cresswell.
Despite recruiting those players, the Town manager feels many areas of his squad still need strengthening: "What I felt we didn’t have last season was competition, proper competition in all areas and we still haven’t got it as we speak today, but it’s getting better. We need three or four more players to make that squad competitive.
"We’re certainly looking for more midfield players. We’re looking for players all around the pitch. There’s no area of the team that is ever secure because I think you’re always trying to improve on what you’ve got.”
Jewell says he was sad to see Wickham move on, but feels the club got a good deal with the £8.1 million fee rising beyond £12 million with top-ups, plus a sell-on: "We’re all disappointed to see him leave, but it was probably inevitable once the offer came in from Sunderland. I know Liverpool expressed an interest in him too.
"The lad wanted to go to Sunderland and I had a chat with him last week and we gave him permission to speak to them on the proviso that there was no pressure from the club and we’d love him back and we wish he was training here today.
"We felt the money was decent and the lad wanted to go and you’re not going to keep someone who wants to go.”
The Blues boss says he’s had a busy summer so far: "Even when you’re on holiday it doesn’t feel like a holiday. Every two minutes the phone is ringing or you’re cutting your holiday short to go to fly across Europe to meet someone. I’m not complaining, that’s the way the job is.
"I’ve probably been on the phone ever since the day we finished here trying to get players in. Some have worked out, some haven’t, some are still going.
"But my experience tells me not to panic. We’ve got five or six weeks to go before the season starts and things will come out of left field that we maybe didn’t see before.
"You need a little bit of luck in that way, but we’re all in the same boat, there’s no difference between us and any other team.”
By the time Town travel to Bristol City on August 6th, Jewell is confident the Blues will be a better side than they were during 2010/11: "Between now and the start of the season there’ll definitely be some ins and maybe some outs.
"What I’m trying do is make sure we’re competitive towards the start of what’s going to be a long, tough season.
"There are some good teams in the Championship and it’s going to be tough, and we want to be up there and competing.”