Town have confirmed the signing of Stephen Gleeson from Birmingham City on a free transfer. TWTD was first to reveal that Gleeson was set to join the Blues last night.
As reported earlier this morning, Gleeson’s Birmingham contract was up at the end of the season and is understood to have been settled, allowing him to move to the Blues on a permanent basis, signing a short-term deal until the summer.
Gleeson signing on a permanent rather than loan basis means Town could recruit another loanee before the transfer window shuts without having more than the five allowed in a matchday 18.
The 29-year-old, who will wear the number 25 shirt at Portman Road, is well-known to Blues manager Mick McCarthy having been at Wolves during his time as boss at Molineux.
"As soon as I knew Ipswich were interested in me, I couldn’t wait to get down here," he told iFollow Ipswich.
"I wanted to stay in the Championship and when the chance came up to come to such a fantastic club as this one, it’s no-brainer.
"I know the manager and Terry Connor well from our time together at Wolves. The manager gave me my first professional contract and gave me my debut there so I’m looking forward to working with them again.
"There’s a good group of players here. I’ve seen that and the club is only four points off the play-offs. It’s a brilliant opportunity for me and I’m looking to help the team push on in any way I can.
"I’m here until the end of the season and I’ve not thought about beyond that.
"If I can contribute here and the club are happy with what I’ve done then we can sit down and talk at the end of the six months but for now all I’m concerned about is enjoying my football again and helping the team progress.”
Dubliner Gleeson played youth football with Cherry Orchard before joining Wolves in 2006.
Loan spells at Stockport (three times), Hereford and the MK Dons followed before he joined the Buckinghamshire side on a permanent basis in July 2009 having made only one League Cup start and three league sub appearances for Wolves.
After five years with MK, the 5ft 9in tall midfielder moved on to Birmingham in 2014.
Having been a key man under former boss Gary Rowett, Gleeson has made only seven appearances for Birmingham (five in the Championship) this season with his most recent first-team game in early December.
He has won four Republic of Ireland full caps, scoring once, in addition to appearances at U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels.