Striker Michael Chopra has ruled out a move away from the Blues on loan during the season ahead and says he wouldn’t be willing to take a pay cut to join another club on a permanent basis. Chopra and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas were told they could find new clubs at the end of 2012/13 with the former Arsenal man believed to be ready to take a drop in wages in order to sign for Bristol City in a swap deal which would see Robins winger Paul Anderson move the other way.
Answering fans’ questions on Twitter, Chopra said he wants to play regularly but doesn’t want to go out on loan at this stage of his career: "I do want to play every week but not as a loan player. [I] won't be going on loan, I'm 29 not 17 anymore.”
The former Cardiff man, who like Emmanuel-Thomas has a year left on his Town contract, has stated on previous occasions that it’s down to him whether he leaves the Blues and says the same would be the case regarding a loan: "[I] won't go on loan, it's down to the player not the football club.”
While Emmanuel-Thomas is believed to be ready to take a drop in pay to move to Bristol City, Chopra, who was linked with Spartak Moscow and Bursaspor last week, says he won’t be following suit: "Why would I take a pay cut just coz I'm a footballer? People expect me to, would anyone else who's not a footballer take one?”
Emmanuel-Thomas, who we understand was initially a Robins loan target in January, is expected at Ashton Gate today for talks with the swap deal expected to go through in the next couple of days.
Speaking last week, manager Mick McCarthy confirmed that both players would still be in with a chance of getting into his team if they remained at Portman Road: "I don’t do any of that bombing them into the stiffs. What’s the point? If they’re here, they’ve got to be earning their keep.”
Elsewhere, former loanee Reece Brown is with the Watford squad on their pre-season training camp in Italy. The Blues were understood to have shown interest in the 21-year-old, who was released by Manchester United at the end of the season, returning to Portman Road on a full-time basis earlier in the summer.