A Championship club is reported to have made Rotherham United an offer of an initial £750,000 rising to £1.25 million for Blues target Matt Crooks, while Millers’ boss Paul Warne says he spoke with his Town counterpart Paul Cook last week about the situation and no further offer has been forthcoming from Portman Road.
Crooks has been the subject of two rebuffed Blues bids - £400,000 and then a bid of either £500,000 or £600,000 - while last week it was claimed the Millers had turned down an offer from another Championship side which was in excess of the Town bids but lower than the latest second-tier offer.
The Championship clubs linked with the 27-year-old this summer include include Middlesbrough, Peterborough United, Cardiff City and Derby County, who are currently subject to a transfer embargo. Warne says he and Cook have talked about the position.
"I spoke to the Ipswich manager last week,” he told the Rotherham Advertiser. "He candidly asked ‘What did I think?’, I candidly told him what I thought and they haven’t offered again.
"It is not something we’re looking to do, to lose our best assets to our competitors.
"I think, in fairness to the player and with no disrespect to Ipswich, if he was to leave here he would want Championship football. That’s what his ability deserves really.”
Last night, Town signed Scott Fraser from the MK Dons, however, as reported yesterday, we understand the Blues remain interested in Crooks.
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 he 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.
The Cobblers are understood to be due a percentage of the Millers' profit if and when they sell.