Rotherham United have turned down a second Town bid for midfielder Matt Crooks.
Last week, the Millers rebuffed a £400,000 Blues offer for the 27-year-old but, as previously reported, with discussions continuing.
Now, the Rotherham Advertiser reports that the South Yorkshiremen have rejected another bid of either £500,000 or £600,000.
"It isn't sufficient," Millers manager Paul Warne said. "You're not going to sell one of your best assets to a League One rival unless it's for a significant amount of money.
"I don't regard, say, £600,000 for Crooks as a significant amount of money, not for a player of his talent.”
Crooks, who has a year left on his Rotherham contract, has been linked with clubs in the Championship and Warne says ideally he’d like to see him move up a level if he were to leave the New York Stadium.
Middlesbrough and Peterborough are also understood to be interested but have not yet made a move and Derby have been linked but are currently subject to a transfer embargo, while League One Sunderland have also been mentioned as among the suitors.
"If he is to leave us, I'd like to think he's taking a massive step up,” Warne said. "Playing in the same league, I don't regard that as a massive step up.”
However, Warne admits he can see why a move to Town might appeal with the Blues said to be ready to double his wages.
"I understand how players get attracted to clubs for obvious reasons,” he continued. "But I can't see us selling him to Ipswich for the money that's on offer at the moment. I don't think it's sufficient and I know our owner [Tony Stewart] has the same feelings.”
The Blues are certain to maintain their pursuit of Crooks, who is one of manager Paul Cook’s top targets this summer.
Leeds-born Crooks, who can operate either in defensive or attacking midfield roles, was a schoolboy with Manchester United’s academy before moving on to Huddersfield with whom he made one senior appearance.
While with the Terriers he spent time on loan at FC Halifax, Radcliffe Borough and Accrington before joining Stanley on a permanent basis in 2016.
In July 2016 he joined Rangers in Scotland but six months later he departed for a loan spell at Scunthorpe having been unable to make an impression at Ibrox.
A switch to Northampton followed in the summer of 2017 before he moved on to Rotherham in January 2019 and was a member of the side which won promotion to the Championship the next season, scoring both goals - out of a campaign total of 11 - in the Millers’ 2-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road.
In 2020/21, Crooks netted seven times as the South Yorkshiremen dropped back into League One.
In March it was reported that Rotherham had held preliminary talks with Crooks regarding a new deal in the wake of the interest from Nottingham Forest.