Town MD Ian Milne has confirmed that the cash received from the sale of left-back Tyrone Mings to AFC Bournemouth last week will be reinvested into Mick McCarthy’s first-team squad.
The 22-year-old was sold for an initially £8 million - the majority paid up front and the rest in instalments - with the overall fee potentially rising to £10 million once top-up clauses - likely to relate to appearances and future international recognition - are triggered. The deal also included a sell-on.
"We received a substantial amount of money for Tyrone and having spoken to [owner] Marcus [Evans] we both realise that it’s important we reinvest that money back into the team,” the Blues MD told the club site.
"It’s a shame to see Tyrone leave but it was a fantastic offer put to us by Bournemouth, especially with Ryan Fraser and Brett Pitman joining us as well, and it’s a great opportunity for Tyrone himself.
"Tyrone goes with our best wishes and I’m sure he will do well in the Premier League. Hopefully next season we can join him there.
"To do that we realise we need to give Mick as much backing and support as we can and that is why we will continue to invest in the first-team squad and the Mings sale will substantially help in building that investment.”
Meanwhile, the traditional first day of pre-season photo call and press conference with manager McCarthy will now take place on Tuesday morning, not this morning as initially planned.
While a number of players were in for testing this morning, the full squad won't be back to begin their 2015/16 preparations until tomorrow.
Arsenal youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles, whose signing on a season-long loan is close to being formalised, will be amongst those at Playford Road, but Daryl Murphy, David McGoldrick, Christophe Berra and Kevin Bru have been given extra time off having been away on international duty.