Boss Mick McCarthy says striker Paul Taylor won’t return to Town regardless of whether he finds a new side before the transfer window closes on Monday. The 27-year-old hasn't returned to the club since his loan at Rotherham ended a fortnight ago and his agent is dealing with securing him a move elsewhere.
"He’s not back here,” McCarthy said when asked whether the £1.5 million signing from Peterborough had returned to Portman Road following his spell with the Millers. "And he’s not coming back.”
Have there been any enquiries regarding him? "I don’t know whether there’s any interest in him.
"I’ve left that with [his agent]. That’s not something I’m dealing with because he’s not coming back, full stop.”
Even if he doesn’t find a club before the deadline he won’t be coming back? "Correct.”
Taylor, who is understood to be the club’s highest-earning player on around £10,000 a week, is out of contract at the end of the season.
Asked whether the club will settle the remaining months of the striker’s contract, McCarthy added: "I’m not that interested because it’s not something I’m dealing with.
"He’s not coming back and his agent’s been dealing with it. It’s with him and Paul. He’s not coming back, full stop.”
Liverpudlian Taylor joined the Blues in August 2012 but suffered a serious foot injury in only his third game for the club.
He returned to action in the summer of 2013 but has played only a handful of games with McCarthy evidently not a fan.
Last season he spent time on loan back at Peterborough and he spent most of the first half of this season with the Millers.
The Capital One Cup defeat at Crawley in August is Taylor’s only appearance for the Blues this season.