Town have been unable to complete the loan signing of Brighton centre-half Connor Goldson before the closure of the summer transfer window, a move which appeared almost certain to go ahead this morning until the Seagulls’ deal to sign Club Brugge defender Stefano Denswil collapsed.
Brighton have been unable to recruit another centre-half before the 11pm deadline, which would have seen the Seagulls allow Goldson to join Town for the season.
TWTD understands Goldson, who was also interesting Sheffield United and a number of other Championship sides, travelled to Suffolk last night and, as reported earlier, underwent a medical at Playford Road this morning with the clubs having agreed terms on a deal which would have seen the Blues pay a very significant proportion of the former Shrewsbury defender’s wage.
The framework of the proposed deal was agreed a fortnight ago when TWTD first reported that Town had made an approach for the one-time Cheltenham loanee, however, with Albion unwilling to confirm until they had signed another central defender.
A previous Brighton move for a defender broke down prior to Club Brugge calling off Denswil’s switch with that deal all but done - the Dutchman had undergone a medical and terms had been agreed - after the Belgian side discovered another of their players, Frenchman Benoît Poulain, would be unavailable for longer than had previously been anticipated due to an injury.
With the Goldson loan deal thrown into doubt, the Blues looked at other central defensive options including Derby’s Jason Shackell, although Town had concerns regarding the former Canary’s fitness. The 33-year-old has played only one game this season following back surgery towards the end of 2016/17.
The Blues had also shown interest in Nottingham Forest’s Jack Hobbs, as was reported over the weekend, but the East Midlanders were unwilling to allow the 29-year-old to move on loan.
With the Goldson deal looking less likely to be completed and having been unable to progress moves for other central defensive options, the Blues made a late afternoon approach for Callum Connolly, a player we understand Town have been eyeing for 18 months and who was a target last summer.
Although primarily a right-back rather than a centre-half, Connolly, who has been signed on a season-long loan, is viewed as giving Town additional defensive strength in depth with Jordan Spence and Dominic Iorfa - both also chiefly right-backs - among the options to play at centre-half during the current central defensive injury crisis which sees skipper Luke Chambers, Tommy Smith and Adam Webster all sidelined.
While Town will not be able to sign a player currently with a club after this evening’s 11pm deadline, they could still recruit someone who is out of contract if manager Mick McCarthy believes he requires further defensive cover until one or more of his senior centre-halves have made their return with Chambers likely to be the first to get back to action.
After the Blues skipper suffered his ankle injury at Millwall, the expectation was that he might be back a couple of weeks after the international break.
Meanwhile, serial Town loanee Jonny Williams joined Sunderland from Crystal Palace on a season-long lan just before the 11pm deadline.