Blues MD Ian Milne says Town selling on-loan striker Kieffer Moore during the January transfer window is "not on the cards". Moore is on a season-long loan with League One Rotherham United, where he has scored 13 times already during 2017/18, but with Blues manager Mick McCarthy having indicated that he plans to cut the spell short in January.
Asked whether there have been any developments regarding the 25-year-old’s situation on Saturday’s Life’s a Pitch on BBC Radio Suffolk (1hr 26mins 10secs), Milne said: "There are discussions about Kieffer Moore coming back. We’ll see what may happen in January.
"I was talking to the owner of Bristol Rovers [Wael Al-Qadi] in the week and he was talking about the havoc Kieffer Moore is wreaking in League One and he said he’d personally love us to recall him.
"I asked Wael how he thought he would perform in the Championship and he thought very good, I don’t know whether that’s just because he wants him recalled however!”
He added: "Equally, there is the other argument - do you let him go on for the rest of the season to really bed himself into it rather than bring him back?”
"The Millers were far from the only club interested in Moore, who the Blues signed from Forest Green Rovers for £20,000 in January of this year, prior to his loan switch in July and we understand his success at the New York Stadium has caught the eye of a number of Championship and League One clubs. Rotherham have already confirmed that they are keen to sign him on a permanent basis.
Quizzed on whether Town might cash in on Moore in January at a time when his stock is high, Milne responded: "I haven’t heard that we are going to do that. I don’t think that’s on the cards. There’s always a price but that’s not on the cards.”
Moore, who made 11 sub appearances for Town last season without finding the net, is contracted to the Blues until the summer with the club having an option to keep him for a further year.
The 6ft 5in tall Torquay-born frontman is currently two games through a three-match ban for a red card against Bristol Rovers and is set to return to action with the Millers when they take on Bury at Gigg Lane on Boxing Day.
Town are likely to wait until after the FA Cup third round tie with Sheffield United on Saturday 6th January to recall Moore as the striker is unavailable for that game having played for Rotherham earlier in the competition.
As TWTD revealed in October, Town already have Waterford striker Aaron Drinan lined-up to sign in January. Asked about plans for further additions and whether owner Marcus Evans will spend some money during the upcoming window, Milne said: "The reply I give to that, of course, is that Mick and Marcus will talk, and they are talking very much at the moment.
"He’s going to look at the injuries and what have you, he’s very excited about where we are in the league and how strongly we are playing at the moment, so I’m hopeful there will be some fruitful discussions going on.”
The Blues MD added: "I think there are certain places we’ve got to look at to improve and to keep going.”