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Town Close to Signing Veteran Defender Keogh - Ipswich Town News

Town are close to signing veteran centre-half Richard Keogh from Blackpool.

We understand the deal to sign Keogh, who is 36 on Thursday and who will come into the squad as experienced cover, is not yet completed but should be done today ahead of this evening's game against Colchester. The former Republic of Ireland international, who is at the club this morning, will sign a one-year contract.

Essex-born Keogh was at Playford Road as an academy player and was a ballboy before being released and moving on to Stoke City’s youth set-up in 2003.

He spent a spell with Icelandic side Vikingur on loan and having failed to break into the first team with the Potters moved on to Bristol City in 2005.

Loan stints with Wycombe, Huddersfield, Carlisle and Cheltenham followed before he joined the Cumbrians on a permanent basis in 2008.

Two years with Coventry followed from 2010 before a seven-year spell with Derby County, where he was skipper and played alongside Blues first-team coach Lee Grant, which ended acrimoniously when he was sacked following the car crash which led to former Blues loanee Tom Lawrence being found guilty of drink-driving.

Keogh, who suffered a knee injury in the accident which sidelined him for 15 months, eventually won an employment tribunal which deemed that he had been unfairly dismissed and Derby were ordered to pay £2.3 million in compensation.

TWTD revealed that Keogh, who was capped 26 times by the Republic of Ireland, scoring once, was interesting the Blues in the summer of 2020 after his Rams exit but he eventually joined the MK Dons.

After six months he moved on to Huddersfield and then last summer to Blackpool with whom he made 28 starts and three sub appearances in 2021/22. He has missed both the Seasiders' opening fixtures with a groin injury, suffered in a pre-season friendly against Everton.

We understand the move is a deal the Blues have been working on for a while - it's believe two offers were turned down - with Keogh set to come in in purely a playing role with no involvement in coaching despite speculation along those lines.

Keogh's signing would mean Town would have five senior centre-halves, adding to Janoi Donacien, George Edmundson, Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess with youngster Corrie Ndaba also part of the squad, although now free to make a move out on loan.

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