Town chief executive Simon Clegg believes the result of Wednesday’s Aaron Cresswell compensation tribunal was a “not unreasonable outcome for the club” but says the process involved a great deal of work. The Professional Football Compensation Committee decided the Blues should pay Tranmere an initial £240,000 plus additional clauses which would take that figure to £520,000
Clegg, who attended the hearing with Cresswell, manager Paul Jewell and club secretary Sally Webb, said: "It’s been a very time-consuming exercise in terms of preparing our presentation for the tribunal, two long days where I’ve not done any other work or business apart from a few phones calls.
"There were four members of the panel. First, they spoke to the player without the clubs being there. Both clubs then went in and the player left.
"Tranmere got an opportunity to present their case and then Paul, Sally and myself got an opportunity to question them, then the panel cross-examined them.
"Then we presented our case and were questioned ourselves by Tranmere and then by the panel. We slipped out and 45 minutes later we were called back in for the decision.”
The Blues chief outlined the structure of the case Town put to the tribunal: "The presentation involved an introduction, then we got Sally to run through the process we’d gone through in securing the player.
"Paul spoke about the player’s ability and why we brought him to the club from his professional point of view.
"I talked about Ipswich’s track record in developing talent, also highlighting the fact that however much talent someone has at a particular age, it doesn’t necessarily come to fruition.
"I ran them through the negotiations we’d conducted with Tranmere and then finally gave a conclusion.
"There was quite a lot of work and a not unreasonable outcome for the club. It was an interesting exercise but a significant amount of work.”
Town are continuing to be linked with targets, Sheffield United’s Matt Lowton and Manchester City’s Gai Assulin the latest, but Clegg is remaining tight-lipped regarding any potential advance on the 12 signings made so far: "I’m speaking to clubs all the time, I’ve spoken to two clubs this morning about something.
"The conversations are ongoing all the time and it’s unhelpful for me to fuel speculation. My normal policy is that when I’ve got something definitive to say, I’ll say it.
"People shouldn’t be surprised to know that these conversations are going on the whole time and the vast majority of the time they don’t come to fruition.
"Deadline day was fairly quiet for us. But let’s not forget that we had done a huge amount of business over the early part of the summer break.”
The chief executive says money is still there for more signings as and when manager Jewell wants to make them: "We’ve made a lot of transfers this season, but there’s no change. No one can doubt Marcus’s commitment to the club.
"I’ve not looked into other clubs, so I don’t know how many transfers or loans other clubs have brought in over the close season, but I can’t believe that there are many, if any, who have exceeded the number of new players that have been brought into this club.”
Clegg reiterates that Jewell’s tenure is viewed as a process of building a team capable of winning promotion over time, citing Cresswell as a signing made with an eye on the future: "It’s not about the short-term, it’s the long-term, and Aaron Cresswell is certainly one for the long-term.”