Town are reported to have made an offer to Sunderland for Hungarian international keeper Marton Fulop. TWTD first reported the Blues’ interest in the 27-year-old in May.

Town are now said to have tabled a £1 million bid for Fulop, who has a year left on his Sunderland contact. The keeper is said to be weighing up his options with other clubs also likely to be targeting him.

Fulop, an international team-mate and close friend of Tamás Priskin, started his career with MTK Hungaria during which time he went on loan to Elöre and Siófok, also in his homeland.

After a three-day trial in July 2004, the 6ft 5in tall keeper joined Spurs. In 2004/05 he spent time on loan at Chesterfield, then the following season moved on to Coventry on a similar basis.

In November 2006 he joined Sunderland, making his move to the Stadium of Light a permanent one in the following January for a fee of £900,000.

Fulop, who has won 21 Hungarian caps, moved on loan to Leicester in August 2007 and was expected to stay with the Foxes until the end of the season. However, after the clubs failed to agree a fee for his permanent move to the Walkers Stadium in the following January — Leicester offered £1 million, Sunderland wanted £3 million — he returned to Wearside.

In February 2008 he briefly joined Stoke on loan but was recalled after four days to cover an injury at Sunderland, however, the Potters and Black Cats agreed a £3 million fee that summer but the move eventually broke down.

Last season Fulop made only 14 appearances for the Black Cats with Craig Gordon currently the first choice and Trevor Carson the regular sub. More recently Belgian U21 international Simon Mignolet has also moved to the Stadium of Light.

Towards the end of the campaign Fulop joined Manchester City on an emergency loan basis as cover for the injured Shay Given, but his move to Eastlands was never expected to stretch beyond the final games of the Premier League season.

Blues boss Roy Keane has stated that he likes to have three keepers in his squad and with Richard Wright departing in the summer will want an additional glovesman to compete with Brian Murphy and Arran Lee-Barrett.

Photo: Action Images

StanwayTractorboy added 15:58 - Jul 21 why?
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jditfc added 15:59 - Jul 21 i might actully purchase a Sunderland shirt.. might as well
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Blueboy added 16:00 - Jul 21 Good keeper but would rather spend money in other areas of the team.
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bluearmy77 added 16:01 - Jul 21 This is becoming a joke, I don't want to be a Sunderland reserve team!!!!
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Surco72 added 16:04 - Jul 21 He must want more wages than Wright would have re signed for and will cost a fee we need in other areas ? , if Keane liked Sunderland so much why did he walk out on them ?
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brian_a_mul added 16:05 - Jul 21 Fulop is a very good keeper but I would still rate Murphy ahead of him. Lee-Barrett is ok but we need a solid 2nd keeper as back up. I just fear that Keane would change between Murphy and Fulop every second game unsettling further the already disrupted defense. The fact that Fulop is Hungarian may be further motivation by Keane to get Priskin off his ass and playing well if he has a friend/international team mate in the squad. If it strengthens our keeping position (Murphy is prone to the odd injury) and get tamas banging in the goals it could be a great signing.

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PartyDaz added 16:06 - Jul 21 Negativity - there's a surprise!
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Marcus added 16:08 - Jul 21 I agree with Brian. Sometimes an international player can be unsettled and it can help to bring in a countryman to get the best out of both players. It helps improve the morale of the players and therefore the whole team... But does it have to be Sunderland every time??
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Blue4life added 16:09 - Jul 21 I like Fulop as a keeper, but town were saying no money to spend unless people leave, when we were looking at strikers, now sudddenly we want a keeper we have money. hmmm makes sense... not. He would be a good keeper to have but the fact is the money to be going on areas we need to improve most, like strikers, Full backs and left wingers. I just dont get why if we do have money we are going for a keeper. Biazarre!!

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Seasonticketsteve added 16:13 - Jul 21 Does Keane see Fulop as Town's number 1 keeper? I cant see Fulop coming here and being happy to warm the bench behind Murphy. As others have said, if this is true there are other areas of the squad that the money should be being used to strengthen it.
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rockstar1981 added 16:15 - Jul 21 I can't really get my head round this one. We have a good Championship cat in Murphy and imo a good reserve backup in L-B. Spending £1m on a 3rd keeper when the money could be saved to purchase a half decent striker... confused.com!!
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buryblue77 added 16:15 - Jul 21 What many seem to forget when slating Roy for picking up ex Sunderland players is that many managers do this, go in for players they've managed before. As Keane has previously only managed Sunderland there aren't too many other places where he can go looking for players he already knows! Fulop is a good keeper and would be a worthwhile signing at this level. Good back up/competition for Murphy and has been mentioned may help motivate Priskin.

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Happy2bBlue added 16:18 - Jul 21 I'm inclined to agree with Brian. We need a solid back up keeper and it's a good observation regarding the Priskin link. I think this says quite a bit about our financial position if we can afford this player in a position that on the face it doesn't need much strenghtening. Also it is obvious that Keno isn't happy to have ALB as 2nd choice as he gave away too many goals when Wrighty was injured last year. So I would agree with this move. Our problem is that we are perceived as a rich club with Evans' money which forces up the prices of players we are after, I think that the public show of tightening the purse strings is for this purpose. We will get Chopra but at the right and not an overinflated price.

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Blueknight85 added 16:20 - Jul 21 Surco if its true..... its pretty simple really.. wright was not that good and is getting old and having a lot of injury problems why pay him those wages when he is unlikely to be your no.1..??? What's wrong with improving your squad with better players? As I have said many times Murphy was never brought in to be no1 from the off he was bought at the start of the season to be weights no2 with potential to compete ...wright turned our to note worth his money based on form age and physical condition so we are buying someone who is... is that really so difficult to understand?? On top of that I'm pretty sure your aloud to make more than one signing a year and getting a keeper in doesn't mean we are ignoring other areas...

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PimsNumber1 added 16:21 - Jul 21 Fullop will be the number one if he comes here. Murphy is competent but thats it. He is nothing special. Fans seem to have a very high opinion of him , why ?
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itfc1981 added 16:21 - Jul 21 A million pounds oh dear god! You shall have a fishy on a little dishy, You shall have a fishy when the boat gets in. You shall have a mackerel on a little dishy, You shall have a mackerel when the TOWN gets in. Haddaway Keaneo!
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bedsitfc added 16:24 - Jul 21 if this is true????? better command of his box than wrighty, but must be on at least the same wages.. dont understand this one, would rather keep alb as 2 choice. it sounds like bored reporters making their day pass quicker
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Blueknight85 added 16:24 - Jul 21 P.s. town have never said we have no money to spend unless we sell..... they have said we have to controll the wage bill which is completely different.
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SeriouslyDelusional added 16:25 - Jul 21 I don't see the need for this if it's true - Brian Murphy looked pretty decent to me, and we have 2 other keepers at the club already. Keeping an out-of-form Hungarian striker company is definitely not a reason to splash £1 million quid!
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naa added 16:36 - Jul 21 We are in desperate need of creatviity in midfield (assuming Garvan isn't given a look-in) and at least one right=back. One thing we don't need is a keeper (I'm not a big fan of Murphy, but he's perfectly capable). So who are we after? Pur-lease!
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Redmond added 16:38 - Jul 21 He is no better then BM so why buy him, just a waste of money
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Mark added 16:39 - Jul 21 If it is true that money is tight at Portman Road and if it is true that we will spend £1M on Fulop (plus around £2M on his contract no doubt) then surely any reasoned ITFC fan would agree this shows the manager totally has his priorities wrong?! We are desparate for a decent striker or two, and attacking midfielders who can score goals. We badly need a right back. Goalkeeper is not a priority, as Murphy is doing a reasonable job (indeed Keane couldn't speak more highly of Murphy when he joined us saying he will become Ireland's number one - has he changed his mind?). Lee-Barrett has looked competent cover, we have McLoughlan too and the option of loans throughout the season as extra cover. It does not matter where players come from, of course, but when just about every signing comes from Sunderland it has to ring alarm bells about the failure of our management to look more widely and a failure of our scouting network.

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SiBo added 16:43 - Jul 21 A decent signing if we can get him... IMO he is better than Murphy, so improves the squad, which is what we should be doing. I suspect RK is only doing this (Assumin the report is correct) as he knows he has other funds available for other areas of the squad which we all know need improvement more! If RK has done this as a stand alone deal... not good, should have improved in other areas... if he's done it as one of a few (Not many... we don't need many), then good move, it improves us!

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Suffolk_n_Good added 16:44 - Jul 21 Not needed, move on please, nothing to see here...... FOR GOODNESS SAKE, LET ME SEE IF I CAN MAKE THIS CLEAR TO THE POWERS THAT BE AT PR: """"WE NEED A STRIKER!!!""""(or 2) Not a goalkeeper, not a midfielder, not a new coach, not a new physio, not a new scout, (ok scrub that, we do need a new scout!) not a new tea lady, or a new bus driver, or a new fence around the pitch, or a nicely designed programme or website, or more advertising, or a lick of paint here & there,........ """"WE NEED A NEW STRIKER!!!"""" I thank you!

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rockstar1981 added 16:51 - Jul 21 ^^^ lol great post!
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