Town will have to pay Leicester City £1.75 million if they want to sign defender Gareth McAuley, according to tabloid reports this morning. Over the weekend it was claimed that the Blues had had a new bid of £1 million turned down by the Foxes.

Jim Magilton has been chasing the Northern Ireland international since January when he previously had three offers rebuffed.

McAuley is widely tipped to leave the Walkers Stadium this summer after Leicester's relegation to League One, with Magilton viewing the 28-year-old as a replacement for the retiring Jason De Vos. QPR, managed by Magilton's best friend Iain Dowie, are also understood to be after the Larne-born defender.

Town's interest in McAuley, who scored two goals in the Foxes' 2-0 win at Portman Road in February 2007, first surfaced in early January with the Blues continuing to pursue the former Linfield, Crusaders, Coleraine and Lincoln man throughout the transfer window.

McAuley, 6ft 3in tall, joined Leicester on a free transfer from Lincoln in the summer of 2006 after his contract at Sincil Bank came to an end.

Capped 10 times by Northern Ireland, McAuley signed a new contract at Leicester in February aimed at keeping him at the Walkers Stadium until 2011, however, it is rumoured that a clause in that deal will allow him to leave for a fee at a pre-agreed level now that Leicester have been relegated. If today's reports are to be believed, £1.75 million appears to be that figure.

Elsewhere, former Blue Sammy Moore has signed for Ryman Premier Division Dover Athletic.

Moore, released by Stevenage at the end of the season having left Town in January, says he is pleased to be joining his home town side: "Manager Andy Hessenthaler and the chairman, Jim Parmenter, really sold me the club - and I was so impressed with the set up.

"I could see this was a club that wants to go forward and, for me, that was what clinched it.

"Obviously, I know all about Dover Athletic - as I used to stand on the terraces when I was little, watching my brother Jason.

"They're a big club at this level and want to get into the Football League. That's where I want to be going and wish to be part of what they're trying to achieve down here."

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