Town boss Mick McCarthy says striker Kieffer Moore’s future will be decided over the next few days but confirmed that the 25-year-old will be leaving Portman Road with his head “elsewhere”.
Earlier today, Barnsley were reported to have agreed a fee of £750,000 for the 6ft 5in tall frontman, who was recently recalled from his highly successful loan spell at Rotherham, with claims he had already undergone a medical, although that appears to be jumping the gun slightly even if Oakwell appears certain to be his destination.
"It’ll be decided over the next few days,” McCarthy said. "He’s cup-tied anyway so he’s not involved with us.
"He trained with us yesterday and his head’s not really here, that’s for certain. He was hardly well-liked or loved here, I remember the crowd cheering when he headed a ball at one stage when he was here.
"But he’s gone and improved, he had a great time at Rotherham, he’s much more loved and revered and thought more of up there, that’s for sure.
"And I could tell yesterday when he trained, there’s a lot of interest in him and I think his head is elsewhere and I think he will probably end up elsewhere.”
Asked whether the club has accepted any bids, McCarthy added: "I’m not sure. There’s a lot of people interested.”
Is he surprised that the interest from various clubs has been so public with the Millers, Peterborough and Bradford confirming their interest and Charlton, Wigan and Scunthorpe also understood to be among the suitors.
"Not really. You know how much that bothers me,” the Blues boss added. "This is my bothered face. In a day when we have all the social media that goes on, never mind people talking, people sending messages all around the world, it’s very hard to keep anything quiet.
"Why would it be kept quiet, the end result of all this is that he either stayed at Rotherham, he came back and played with us and if he came back and played with us in one game, he couldn’t go anywhere else then, couldn’t be loaned out because of the two-club rule.
"We bring him back and he’s not playing in front of Garns and Waggy, that’s for sure. He doesn’t want to come back and be on the bench. He’s just had a great time, has scored 13 goals in League One. Kieffer’s head is elsewhere and I’m cool with that.”
Has he thought about keeping him for the longer term? "We’ve got an option on him and we could keep him, but not really, not when I think he’s ready to leave. He wants to leave.
"I can’t bring him back and give him reassurance, ‘By the way, I’ll put you in the team’. Really? No Garns, no Waggy, put Kieffer in the team? I don’t see that happening to be quite honest with you.”