Town loan striker Daryl Murphy admits he is resigned to leaving Celtic when his contract expires in the summer.
The Republic of Ireland international has also repeated his desire to join up at Portman Road on a permanent basis when he becomes a free agent in the summer.
Murphy, who will be 30 next week, said: "I made up my mind up about a year ago that when my Celtic contract was up I wouldn’t be staying.
"I’ll be a free agent come June and after that we’ll see what happens. In a perfect world I’d love to stay at Ipswich.
"It won’t bother me to take a pay cut because that’s what I did to join Celtic in the first place.
"For me it’s all about playing and if it wasn’t I’d still be at Sunderland picking up my money.”
Murphy first joined Town on loan three years ago when Roy Keane snapped him up from the Black Cats and he scored six goals in his 18 league appearances.
In July 2010 he moved north of the border but 13 months later he was on the move again, this time back to Portman Road when Paul Jewell signed him on a season-long deal.
Jewell snapped him up again in September last year and he has since taken his Town appearance tally to 84 with 16 goals.
Murphy added: "I’ve been at Ipswich so long now that I feel like part of the furniture. My wife and children are also settled here and that’s always a major factor for any player.
"Clubs get the best out of players when they are settled and happy. I’ve moved around quite a lot and it’s not nice for the wife and kids.
"Changing schools doesn’t help and it upsets them. If they’re upset I’m not happy. I don’t think people realise how important it is to players that their families are settled in an area.
"I would definitely like to stay here but it’s up to the gaffer. It’s his call but we won’t be talking about it until we’re safe.”
Town boss Mick McCarthy, who paid Waterford £100,000 to snap him up for Sunderland almost eight years ago after Murphy had had spells on trial with the Blues, recently hinted that he would be keen to sign him on a permanent basis.