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Town Set for Windfall as Clarke Edges Closer to Brighton Move - Ipswich Town News

Town look set to receive a significant windfall with former defender Matt Clarke edging closer to a move from Portsmouth to Premier League Brighton and Hove Albion.

Clarke, 22, has been tipped for a switch to the Seagulls for some weeks but now the deal is understood to be near to completion, with Football Insider reporting that the clubs are close to agreeing a fee of £3.9 million.

Town are understood to be due 20 per cent of the profit Pompey make on Clarke, who is believed to have been valued at £50,000 when he joined them as a makeweight in the £750,000 deal which saw Adam Webster sign for the Blues in the summer of 2016.

That would see Town receive £770,000 at a time when the club is facing a £9 million loss of revenue due to relegation to League One.

Given the overall drop in income, the Clarke windfall is unlikely to see a change in the club’s transfer policy, which is all but certain to be based solely on Bosman free signings this summer.

Barham-born Clarke came through the academy and made one start and four sub appearances for the Blues before signing for Portsmouth, with whom he spent 2015/16 on loan.

Town could also receive further financial boosts via sell-ons this summer with Webster, currently with Bristol City, understood to be interesting Aston Villa, Leicester and Southampton and with a valuation of £12 million having been reported.

Webster, 24, joined the Robins from Town for an initial £3.5 million last summer with the fee potentially rising to £8 million.

The Blues are likely to have a sell-on of 10 per cent included in that deal which, depending on how many top-ups have been paid already, could bring in up to £850,000, although Portsmouth would be due 20 per cent of anything the Blues receive as a result of their sell-on from the 2016 move.

Meanwhile former left-back Tyrone Mings is expected to move on from AFC Bournemouth with his former loan club Aston Villa the favourites to sign him with a fee of £15 million - potentially yielding Town up to another £700,000 via a 10-per-cent-of-profit sell-on - having been widely reported.

Ex-striker Kieffer Moore, now with Barnsley, is also believed to be interesting Bristol City with a 10-per-cent-of-profit sell-on also understood to have been part of the deal which saw the 26-year-old move to Oakwell for £750,000 in January 2018.

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