Sunderland are the latest club to be linked with Town striker Connor Wickham. The frontman, who scored in the FA Youth Cup victory over Tranmere last night, is said to be interesting a host of Premier League clubs including Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa.

FA rules mean that England U17 international Wickham is unable to sign a professional contract with the Blues until his 17th birthday on March 31st.

Last week boss Roy Keane said he had met with the player’s father and had got the impression that Wickham is happy at Portman Road. Previously the Blues boss stated that Town is the ideal club for the frontman’s development: “I think this is the best place for him to get his education. The success of the academy over the years would be our argument, whether it’s with Connor, his agent his dad or whoever.

“When you’re a Championship club at least the boy will get an opportunity to play first team games. Sometimes they go to these bigger clubs and it doesn’t quite happen because they get lost because there’s that many good players there.

“Connor’s already played some first team games, he trains with us on a regular basis and he goes away and plays with the youth team every now and again. It’s a good club for him and he’ll get a chance to progress.”

Meanwhile, Scottish reports are again linking Hearts defender Jose Goncalves with the Blues. The former Portuguese U21 international was previously mentioned in connection with Town last month along with team-mate Lee Wallace. Celtic are also said to be interested.

Elsewhere, Hull City have been linked with a January move for ex-Blue Darren Ambrose, who has scored six goals in his last six games for Crystal Palace and 12 overall this season.

Photo: Action Images

itfc1981 added 11:15 - Dec 3 well said Keaneo, in best Del boy voice 'you know it makes sense'
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superblueflude added 11:22 - Dec 3 I just hope that people would stop saying if Wickham goes its Keanes fault - its all down to Wickham - I hope he stays but be honest everyone as much as we love town, if you had to choose Arsenal or ipswich who would you choose - forget the first team football thing, its about money, popularity -this is football now
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mripswichtown added 11:24 - Dec 3 Carm down everyone! its just the press making stories up! wickham is going no where!
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FormerlyCGS added 11:35 - Dec 3 I very much doubt he would go here!
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muhrensleftfoot added 11:50 - Dec 3 Wickham will go wherever his agent can earn the most money!
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TractorRoyNo1 added 12:11 - Dec 3 Theese parasites took £70m+ out of the game last season, so let's hope that Goddard and Barnett are prepared to let 'their' asset grow before cashing in on him.
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haynes_is_a_ledgend added 12:28 - Dec 3 well him for darren or david
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blueoveru added 12:30 - Dec 3 same old Ipswich,getting ready to sell of the family jewels,perhaps we can hire some 35 year old journeymen with some of the money for a season.
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bluepeter added 12:30 - Dec 3 man utd got Martin to sign a contract just days prior to signing for us, if you remember. At worst it would be great financially if Connor did the same for us. Even if we are promoted it is almost impossible for most teams to keep young talent from the top six vultures. I am quite excited about his potential and hope it will be witnessed as long as possble by a club with HIS best interests at heart. Well done Connor!

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bigfish added 13:16 - Dec 3 Am i right that end of march no one will be allowed to sign him as window would have closed, yet he can sign with us as he is with us ????? or is their special rules in this case ????
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WeWereZombies added 13:22 - Dec 3 Bigfish - I do not think you can conflate the transfer window with the young player signings rules too easily. If a Premier League side were to sign Wickham they would not field him this season anyway
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macauleyisuseless added 13:24 - Dec 3 get rid of him. He seems greedy and lazy whenever he comes on , he shouldnt be like that no matter how young he is.
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macauleyisuseless added 13:32 - Dec 3 although im taking nothing away from how well hes done to get into the first team at his age.
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ABO1itfc added 13:54 - Dec 3 At his rate of scoring in the league i doubt he'll be playing much football
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TRUEBLUE1974 added 14:01 - Dec 3 he will get linked with every premiership club in the end because of his age and potential, lets see what happens. if you listen to what his dad has to say he wants him to stay at the blues lets hope he takes his dads advice.
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KindofBlue added 14:08 - Dec 3 Going to make a rather unpopular comment but maybe we should sell him. It could well be that his value (including possible sell-on clauses) is highest right now. I say this because football has changed, Prem clubs are no longer taking 21-24 year old players from Championship clubs for big money but they are all looking to hoover up the best young talent from around the world (ie 18 and under). If he were to stay with us either we would only get a season or two max if he progressed well, alternatively he may not make the step up and lose his value. It striles me that a club like ours should be looking at acquiring talent around 18-22 that need to prove their premiership credentials. It pains me to say it because I love the idea of developing our own players, but I think this is the way football at our level will be going.

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rockstar1981 added 14:37 - Dec 3 blueoveru - are you are a complete retard?? if he leaves now it is his decision NOT ITFC's and we would be powerless to stop it - read again very carfeully WE WON'T BE SELLING HIM AS HE IS NOT EVEN UNDER A CONTRACT WITH US!!!!!!
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FenboyBlue added 14:52 - Dec 3 It can only be a question of time before Real Madrid and Barcelona are making enquiries.
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bestblue added 16:36 - Dec 3 Maybe we will get enough cash to buy back Jordan Rhodes
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jamie22 added 17:11 - Dec 3 Press...Press...Press and why are people having a go at this agent... do we even know he has one!? Doesn't state it there. Let's think if Chelsea offer that 5 million for him I would take it with open arms! (although again it's the Press) If he was to go, I just hope it's Arsenal for his sake! But I am confident he will stay but lets be honest he wouldn't be in the first team if he wasn't 16 would he? But good luck to him and lets hope he progresses and if it's not with us we get a load of cash for another striker... win win situation really isn't it?

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Bergholtblue added 18:15 - Dec 3 No-one is selling anybody! Read the article! Conor cannot sign a professional contract until he is 17. When he is 17 he will decide who he wants to sign for. We will have to bid for his services alongside all the other clubs mentioned. Lets just hope that he has a bit of loyalty and signs for us. But his decision will be based on how much the contract is worth and how best he thinks he can progress his career. I don't know whether we can claim some compensation for bringing him on thus far, but if we can, it will not make a jot of difference to his decision.

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debenhamhornet added 19:56 - Dec 3 I would like to see him score some goals for the A team before he goes!! His footwork on the ball is great but he has yet to score a goal in front of the North Stand on match day.
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nobbyclark added 20:53 - Dec 3 He will stay imo. As Keane says the history of our academy speaks for itself. He would get lost at a bigger club. He can earn mega bucks in a few years time. :)
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blueoveru added 22:39 - Dec 3 rockstar you total tw@t,I am well aware that we will sign him first then sell him ,you deserve a whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.
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Chards added 09:13 - Dec 4 We probably won't get a 'load' of cash, and it would be a great shame if Connor were to leave...which we don't know yet. However, I feel it's time to stop getting rid of the youngsters in order to bring in some of Keane's has-beens from other clubs, most of whom are too old to play a decent game for us.
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