Derby County have emerged as the new favourites to sign Blues striker Martyn Waghorn having matched Boro’s offer for the 28-year-old in a dramatic late twist to the long-running transfer saga.
Earlier this morning the Teessiders, long-time admirers of Waghorn, had an offer accepted by the Blues, which TWTD can confirm is an initial £5 million. Speaking last night, manager Paul Hurst admitted Town would have to accept a fee below their valuation.
Now, the Daily Telegraph is reporting that Derby, who have been Boro’s main rivals for Waghorn for the last few weeks, have matched that bid and last season’s 16-goal top scorer is set to undergo a medical at Pride Park tomorrow.
As with the Boro offer, the deal is likely to include top-up clauses which would eventually boost that figure, probably up towards the £8 million overall total previously reported.
Derby have matched Middlesbrough’s £5m bid for Ipswich striker Martyn Waghorn and are now favourites. Poised for medical tomorrow #dcfc #itfc– John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) August 5, 2018
Meanwhile, Sheffield United reportedly still haven’t given up hope of landing Waghorn themselves.
According to the Sheffield Star, the Blades are looking into "restructuring” their bid, which was believed to have been a little below £5 million.
However, the Blades, who made that offer more than a month ago, appear to have missed the boat.
TWTD was first to reveal Derby's interest in Waghorn early last month with their first bid coming almost a fortnight ago.
The Rams had looked the favourites to land the former Leicester, Sunderland and Wigan man until the middle of last week but their plans were believed to have suffered a blow when Matej Vydra's sale to Leeds fell through.
That was understood to be a deal they needed to complete if they were to sign Waghorn in order to stay within Financial Fair Play limits. However, it was subsequently reported that that was a red herring, something which now appears to have been confirmed by the Rams' new offer.
Waghorn cost the Blues only £250,000 when he joined from Rangers last August. The Ibrox club will receive 10 per cent of the profit Town make on that deal.
The Blues will use the cash from Waghorn's sale to make additions to their squad before Thursday's deadline with Shrewsbury pair Toto Nsiala and Jon Nolan expected to confirm their moves on Monday.
The Blues are also chasing Blackpool centre-half Curtis Tilt, who was left out of the Seasiders' team yesterday, and Accrington striker Kayden Jackson, while Cardiff's Omar Bogle, another frontman, is a loan target.
Meanwhile, former Blues winger Mustapha Carayol joined Kevin Bru at Apollon Limassol on Friday. Like Bru, Carayol, 29, was released by Town at the end of last season.