Town left-back Aaron Cresswell’s £4 million move to West Ham United has been confirmed by Jack Sullivan, the son of Hammers’ owner David Sullivan. The 24-year-old has signed a five-year deal.
Sullivan junior tweeted: "Aaron Cresswell, PFA Championship team left-back, is now a WHU player.”
He later confirmed the fee to be £4 million and that the player's wages would be £20,000 a week. Cresswell missed Town training to undergo a medical with the Premier League side this morning.
West Ham were amongst the clubs keeping tabs on Cresswell throughout the 2013/14 campaign and were linked with a possible move by their local press yesterday.
The Hammers are understood to have turned their attention to Cresswell, having had an offer for Norwich's Martin Olsson turned down.
It’s understood that the Blues have previously turned down other offers for the 24-year-old, with reports elsewhere claiming Fulham were amongst those to make a bid.
Speaking on Monday, manager Mick McCarthy confirmed that he wouldn’t stand in the way of Cresswell if an offer came in from a Premier League side: "I said last season, and my stance hasn’t changed, Cressy got all the plaudits for being the best left-back in the league and if at some stage somebody comes in and the deal’s right, it becomes untenable because [in those circumstances] the player wants to go. It’s not that we want to sell him but I might be able to reinvest if that’s the case.
"I don’t want to sell him but he himself is really ambitious and if the right deal comes along, who knows, it may have to happen.
"And if it does, I’ll shake his hand, thank him for all that he’s done and I’ll crack on and get somebody else. That’s the way it happens.”
McCarthy has previously said that he will look to second-choice left-back Tyrone Mings to replace Cresswell, while the fee is likely to go towards strengthening the squad.
Cresswell's former club Tranmere Rovers are entitled to 20 per cent of the profit the Blues have made on the £420,000 they paid for him following his summer 2011 switch to Portman Road.
A Football League tribunal set a compensation figure of an initial £240,000 plus milestone clauses, with only a £100,000 payment on promotion to the Premier League not triggered. Cresswell made 138 appearances for Town, all starts, scoring seven goals.
Coincidentally, West Ham are at Portman Road for their first friendly of pre-season on Wednesday 16th July (KO 7.45pm).