Jay Tabb looks set to become one of this summer’s first permanent additions to the squad with the Blues having offered the on-loan midfielder a contract, we understand. Recently manager Mick McCarthy said he had spoken to the 29-year-old and was keen to keep him at Portman Road.
Tabb, who has not been offered new terms by current club Reading, has made seven starts and one sub appearance and has scored one goal since joining the Blues on a temporary basis in March.
The former Coventry and Brentford man has previously said he has enjoyed his time at Town and that he would welcome a longer term move: "I don’t see why I wouldn’t stay here, it would have to take something special for me not to.”
With the season effectively over, the Blues boss seems likely to make public his decisions regarding the out of contract players and loanees in the next few days.
Lee Martin, Andy Drury, Arran Lee-Barrett and recent signing Jason Brown all have terms which are up in June, while Daryl Murphy, Guirane N’Daw, Richard Stearman, Reece Brown, Aaron Mclean and Patrick Kisnorbo are like Tabb on loan until the end of the season.
David McGoldrick is still at the club despite his 93-day loan being up and is set to sign a two-year deal on July 1st when Tabb would also be able to formally put pen to paper on a contract with the Blues, their terms elsewhere having come to an end.
Meanwhile, McCarthy confirmed at Saturday night’s Player Awards Evening that he would have left the club had the Blues dropped into League One: "The agreement was I’d stay if we stayed up, I’d go if we went down. Relegation would have been a disaster for this club and there would have been a whole host of changes.”
Had they been demoted Town would have looked for a manager whose wages would have been more in line with those of a club in League One, while it’s unlikely that McCarthy would have wanted to manage at that level.