Town keeper Bartosz Bialkowski’s switch to Millwall is 99 per cent agreed and will be a season-long loan, according to the Polish media, as the Blues continue to progress their move for Lions striker Tom Elliott, also on loan.
Jaroslaw Kolinski, of Polish newspaper PrzeglÄ…du Sportowego, has tweeted that the deal which will see Bialkowski return to the Championship is all but done.
As TWTD was first to reveal yesterday, talks regarding reviving the 32-year-old’s switch to the Lions have been ongoing since last week, while Town are closing in on the signing of striker Elliott from the South Londoners on what we understand is also a loan.
Last month Bialkowski’s proposed near-£1 million switch to Millwall broke down due to Lions’ concerns regarding his knee which emerged during his medical, something which has never been considered a worry by the Blues during his five years at the club.
The South Londoners tried to renegotiate the deal before Town ultimately pulled the plug. But discussions regarding the switch were revived over the last week or so.
News: na 99 proc Bartosz BiaÅ‚kowski zostanie bramkarzem Millwall. Roczne wypożyczenie. Tym razem chyba już nic siÄ™ nie wysypie.– JarosÅ‚aw KoliÅ„ski (@JareKolinski) July 29, 2019
Following relegation to League One, Town have been willing to consider bids for Bialkowski, their highest-paid player after the bumper new deal he signed last summer - which runs to the summer of 2021 with the club having an option for a further season - having returned from duty with Poland at the World Cup finals in Russia.
That new contract followed the Blues' refusal of a £3 million offer from Birmingham for the former Notts County and Southampton man.
Despite having said he is happy at Town - and that he plans to live in Suffolk once he retires - League One football was unlikely to improve Bialkowski’s international prospects and a move back to the Championship has always been on the cards, although with the move only a loan it is far from impossible that he could return to continue his Town career at the end of the season.
Bialkowski, an unused sub at Cambridge on Saturday, has made 177 starts and one sub appearance for the Blues having signed from Notts County in the summer of 2014 on a free transfer.
The 6ft 4in glovesman, who had a short spell on loan at Town in 2009 without making a senior appearance, won the club's Player of the Year gong in three successive seasons before relinquishing the award in 2018/19.
The Blues have moved quickly to secure another keeper to replace Bialkowski with Wolves keeper Will Norris set to sign.
Elliott, 28, began his career with hometown club Leeds and was handed his first-team debut as a sub aged only 16 when still at school.
Spells on loan at Macclesfield, Bury and Rotherham followed before he left Elland Road for Hamilton Academical in January 2011 having made one start and a further two sub appearances.
Six months later Elliott, who won caps at England U16 and U18 levels while with Leeds, moved on to Stockport, where he spent a season before departing for Cambridge United.
In 2015, having been released after three years with the U’s, the 6ft 4in tall frontman joined AFC Wimbledon where he spent two years before moving on to Millwall in 2017 when his Dons contract expired.
Elliott, who suffered a grade one hamstring strain earlier in pre-season and is yet to play a friendly, has scored nine goals - including the third in his side’s 3-2 defeat of the Blues at Portman Road on New Year’s Day - in 32 starts and 34 games from the bench for the Lions.
The striker is expected at Portman Road either later today or tomorrow to undergo a medical and complete the formalities relating to his switch.