Midfielder Rekeem Harper has joined League One strugglers Crewe Alexandra on loan until the end of the season.
Earlier this afternoon, TWTD reported that League Two Rochdale had enquired regarding the 21-year-old but with League One sides also keen on the former West Brom schemer.
Harper moved to Portman Road from the Baggies in the summer and began the season in the starting XI but hasn’t made a senior appearance since the Papa John’s Trophy defeat to Arsenal’s U21s at the start of December, although he was on the bench at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Town boss Kieran McKenna said on Friday that there were loan options on the table for both Harper and Idris El Mizouni.
El Mizouni is now not set move out on loan before tonight’s 11pm deadline having made his first appearance under McKenna at Hillsborough at the weekend with the new Blues boss having been impressed with the Tunisia international's display and with Town shorter on central midfield options after the departures of Scott Fraser and Jon Nolan, and with skipper Sam Morsy suspended for another two matches.
Speaking about the duo potentially going out on loan just over a week ago, manager Kieran McKenna said: "We want them to be part of our plans going forward and we want them to be here in pre-season competing for places and showing what they can do and trying to fight their way into the team.
"Both of them are probably at the stage where they haven’t played as much football as they would like to this year.
"Idris is still trying to work his way into senior football but is a great personality, a hungry boy who works hard in training and I’m sure he’s going to be a very good player.
"And Rekeem is someone who has had good exposure at an early age at West Brom. Again, a real talent that has got really good ingredients but hasn’t had a real run of games, probably over the course of his career so far probably hasn’t had six, seven or eight league games in a row.
"We’ve had conversations with both of them, and we’ve discussed the pathway and the plans for them over the longer term and part of that was that we think that it would be a good option for them to seek games until the end of the season somewhere where they can play regularly.
"Really put a run of games together and gain experience and confidence and exposure and putting themselves in a better position for going into next year.
"So, that’s something that we’re working on as a club. Obviously, it needs to be the right fit for both of them and somewhere that we feel that will be right for their development.”
Elsewhere, former Town striker Kieffer Moore, 29, has joined AFC Bournemouth from Cardiff City.