Town keeper Matteo Sereni has told Italian newspapers that he wants to remain with loan club Brescia next season. The stopper has had a hugely impressive year back in Italy and is interesting a number of clubs aside from his current paymasters.
Sereni was on the losing side on Saturday as Brescia fell to a rare 3-1 defeat at Lazio who confirmed their place in the Champions' League. However, with one Serie A game remaining, the Rondinelle are still confident that they can play European football next year via the Intertoto Cup.
The keeper, who joined Town in the summer of 2001 for £4.7 million says he wants to stay with his current club despite links with other sides: "I hope to remain with Brescia. I am happy here and have already told club president Luigi Corioni that I definitely want to stay. However, whether I do does not depend on me."
Brescia had first option on Sereni with a potential fee part of the deal which saw him move back to Italy last summer. However, that was based on an agreement being reached by the end of April and, according to Town chairman David Sheepshanks, a number of other clubs have shown an interest in the 28-year-old.
Sereni's former club Sampdoria had their promotion back to Serie A confirmed this weekend and reportedly want to take him back to Genoa. Aside from them, the identity of other interested parties remains a mystery although Sheepshanks told TWTD that they are all Italian.
The Parma-born player has now kept 13 clean sheets in 22 Serie A games this season and was recently valued at €8 million (£5.5 million) by the Gazzetta Dello Sport. While Sheepshanks says that Town definitely want a fee, anything even slightly approaching that figure would be a major coup.
Town have already told Sereni to report for pre-season training on July 2nd if no deal has been fixed by then, although his £22,000-a-week wage would be very much unwelcome at Portman Road.
The club's post-administration business plan does not specifically take into account returns by Sereni or other loanee Ulrich Le Pen, although there is a clear outline for a significant amount of cash to be brought in via player sales.
Winger Le Pen, who could sign for either current side Strasbourg or Guingamp during the summer, is out of action for the remaining two games of the French season due to an abductor strain. The Blues are also keen to get some money for him, although this looks less likely.