Keeper Vaclav Hladky says he expects his Town future to be resolved one way or another next week when he returns for pre-season training.
The 33-year-old’s contract is up on Sunday with discussions having been ongoing since January and we understand Town’s offer remains on the table.
In March, Hladky, one of the stars of Town’s Championship promotion season, told TWTD and other local media that he was keen to stay and that he wasn’t sure why a deal hadn’t already been signed.
Speaking in the Czech media, with whom he has been working during Euro 2024, he revealed there has been no progress on that front and he doesn’t yet know whether he’ll be involved in pre-season training when it starts on Monday.
"I don’t, I don’t, and truth be told, I don’t know when I’ll find out,” he told Canal Plus Sport
"No, I think the deadline is 30th June when my contract ends. That’s Saturday, if I’ve got my dates right, and on Monday we report back for training so everything will all overlap, or link up nicely. And I think, in that week, I should know for sure if I’ll be at Ipswich or if something else awaits me.”
Hladky, who joined the Blues from Salford in the summer of 2021, says he is now also looking at options other than Town, where he might well be second choice next season were he to remain with the Blues looking at other keepers.
"Ever since we opened negotiations on a new contract in January, we’ve followed a clear line that our preferred choice would be Ipswich, I want to stay at Ipswich, I want to extend my time there,” he said.
"And at this point there’s been a slight change in the situation because the negotiations have been tough going and not exactly the way we were expecting them to play out.
"So right now we’re following a strategy where we’ll sit down and take a look at any offer that lands on our desk, weigh-up all the pros and cons, and it’s not like I would prefer this or that destination or league. It really is a case of, whatever comes along, I’ll sit down with the manager [his agent] and with my wife, and assess it.”
Hladky says Town boss Kieran McKenna has told him he wants him as part of his squad next season: "I was there in person on 10th June and sat down with the manager.
"We had a long chat and laid our cards out, how he sees things, how he sees my role next season, and the upshot of that was that he definitely wants me to stay.
"He was a little surprised how the club is engaging with my manager. So he told me he’d have a talk with the [club] management and clarify the things, under what circumstances I can continue and so on. So we’ll see.
"But I would say the difference is that the coaching staff and I are of like mind, but we can’t find common ground with the club.”
Town’s keeper ranks could be set for a shake-up over the summer with Christian Walton perhaps looking to move on having rarely featured last season. The club recently took an option to extend his contract for a further season, which would ensure a fee should the 28-year-old depart.
Third-choice Cieran Slicker has said the next step in his development is a spell out on loan with Kilmarnock and Hibernian understood to be keen on the Scotland U21 international.
The Blues have been widely linked with Brighton’s former England U21 keeper Carl Rushworth, 22, who spent last season on loan at Swansea City and the previous campaign at Lincoln City, having had earlier stints with Worthing and Walsall.
We understand Rushworth, who is 6ft 2in tall, is on Town’s list but with claims that a move is imminent overstating the situation as it stands.