Town skipper Jon Walters is understood to be on the verge of a £3 million move to Premier League Stoke City. Walters has been tipped to make his Portman Road exit all summer with QPR recently claimed to have had a £2.5 million offer rebuffed by the Blues and weekend reports that the former Republic of Ireland B international had handed in a transfer request.

The Blues and Potters are believed to have agreed the fee and Walters is expected at the Britannia Stadium today to talk personal terms with the move looking likely to be completed before the end of the week.

The 26-year-old, who is contracted to Town until 2012, was strongly linked with Stoke in the summer of 2008, but no offer was eventually forthcoming, and then again earlier in this close season.

Manager Roy Keane, who made Walters his captain last season, said in January that the Birkenhead-born player is capable of playing in the top flight: “Jon’s been outstanding. He’s a been a really good leader for us, even earlier in the season when we were having a difficult spell.

“There’s no doubt in my mind, Jon Walters could easily be playing in the Premiership, so we’re very lucky to have him. He’s a very, very important player for us.”

Walters joined Town from Chester City for an initial £100,000 in January 2007, the deal also including top-ups relating to appearances by the player and promotion for the Blues which would could have taken the fee to £200,000. The one-time Blackburn and Bolton trainee coincidentally made his Town debut against Stoke in a 0-0 draw in Staffordshire.

If Walters completes his move, the Blues are appear almost certain to use some of the cash raised to tempt Cardiff City into selling number one target Michael Chopra, their offers so far having been refused by the Bluebirds.

Meanwhile, a season ticket in D Block of the Cobbold Stand has been revealed as the fourth most expensive in the country at £1,001, higher than the top-priced seats at Manchester United and Newcastle and cheaper than only Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea’s most costly tickets.

Photo: Action Images

Warkystache added 19:39 - Aug 4 Woohoo! Three million quid for THAT. I feel like Arfur Daley. I bet the board and RK do as well. Average CCC player who doesn't score enough but works quite hard. Wonder if Stoke would like an "exciting" Spanish striker as well? I'm sure for £2 million we can do a deal......
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gav_g added 19:54 - Aug 4 hmm a good player to see go, but 3 mil is a good offer. Use the money to get chops and a replacement winger (maybe on loan) and this could be good!
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punch_bowl added 20:04 - Aug 4 everyone was saying he should of been dropped last season as he didnt look or play like the JW we know and lets be honest he hasn't the last 2 seasons so 3 million is a great deal!
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PutYaBootsOnKeano added 20:08 - Aug 4 Great news! In Keano I trust. We were building a team around him and he's not good enough. He's good, but not good enough. Brave decision, thanks Walters, and we all move on. £3m?? Cash back. Back of the net. and other Partridgisms.
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ExeterTractorBoy added 20:28 - Aug 4 Great bit of business, if true; a good player but not worth £3mill and he was certainly bellow par most of last season. The stage would now be set (and the number 10 shirt vacated), for the arrival of Chopra. I will be looking forward to hopefully seeing him bag a couple of goals down here in Exeter next week.
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enfieldblue added 20:48 - Aug 4 Am i the only person here that thinks we are in a right ol pickle, no one really knows what the heck is going on ; far to unstable at this time of the season , squad should be settled and ready ,
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ipswichsupporter88 added 21:01 - Aug 4 at the moment it looks like Walters is going up a league and if ipswich dont sign anyone, theyre going down a league -_____-
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Mark added 21:05 - Aug 4 Are we SURE it is £3M? Last I heard the offer was £1M. If £3M is true, I expect that figure is only after tops ups based on appearances, goals and even international appearances. Jon has always been a hard worker and a valuable member of the team, although I accept the last 2.5 years he hasn't been as good as before. I won't be sorry to see him leave IF he is replaced. It seems that Chopra is cited as the replacement for everyone who leaves. Everyone going frees up wages for Chopra and every fee goes towards Chopra, but we might not even get him! We need a variety of signings and two or three strikers, so let's not pin everything on the Cardiff striker. In 3 days the Middlesbrough match will be over. Signings please!!

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branthamfc added 21:08 - Aug 4 quite remarkable, season not started and some of you are having a dig already. probably the same that will be singing keane's name when we go on a roll and start winning a few games. post positive, get behind the team and you never know. everyone entitled to an opinion but at least wait until a ball's kicked !
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runaround added 21:12 - Aug 4 £3m is about double his worth and we should snap their hands off! He had 1 good season but has been nothing special ever since. Does not seem to fit perfectly into the team whatever position he played and perhaps without him we maybe more balanced. He always gave 100% though and i wish him well if he does move. The only downside I can see is if we fail to get in a goalscorer and further cover in wide areas the team will look very frail. Lets hope Clegg,Evans and Keane can get some in

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Talcum added 21:24 - Aug 4 I have been reading all these comments about how Walters hates Keane etc and that is why he has asked to leave, where has this come from? A friend of a friend etc.... His wife has not settled since she fell pregnant with there second child, they had more than their fair share of probs with their first, and has been stating she wants to go back near her parents. Walters asked under Magilton to go back to his family, remember when he was told to get his head right. It seems to me that he has not played that well since as he is a family man and wants to be where his family is happiest. Seems to me Keane has seen that and is trying to do good business for the club and for Walters. Not the actions a deranged loony as lots of you are posting.

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sixtouchfootball added 21:25 - Aug 4 Where is this story from? Haven't read all the posts on this so not sure if any of you have mentioned where it came from. He was in the stands last night wasn't he? If he was that close to a move wouldn't he be off sorting a new house for his family etc?? If there is any truth in this i suspect it will break down as stoke can't match his wages at town (tongue in cheek)! And as for the rumour on the cardiff website that koumas is goi g to replace chopra, just remember cardiff currently have a transfer embargo.

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soapy added 21:29 - Aug 4 Shame but he's obviously had his head turned by their attractive footballing style. And huge wages.
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ITFC_IN_HULL added 21:34 - Aug 4 @ sixtouchfootball actually cardiff have signed koumas from wigan on a loan deal not sure if he will be replacing chopra or even whittingham but he wont be able to play for them untill there transfer embargo is lifted. FACT
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moomoosereni added 21:44 - Aug 4 I cant be bothered to read all 164 posts as to whether someone has already said this but I saw Fryatt is potentially asking to leave Leicester? If so he'd be a good replacement me thinks and would cost a lot less than £3m.
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WREXHAM_BLUE added 21:48 - Aug 4 If this is true, gutted. On the plus side, I'd say £2.5-£3M is very good money. Let's just hope that if the transfer does go through, we're able to bring one or two (or 5!) in very quickly.
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Churchman69 added 22:04 - Aug 4 3 Million is ludicrous money for a player who has just had two fairly average seasons at a fairly average championship club (if that). Given that, ME and Co should bite Stoke's hand off. However, this revolving door policy at PR is hugely concerning and I really wonder where the replacements are? The Chopra/Fulop sagas rumbles on but in reality for the 5 or 6 players we have let go we have essentially only taken on Mark Kennedy? It this good business. I think not.

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martleshamitfc added 23:37 - Aug 4 yawn yawn yawn - very bored with all this now unrtil something actually happens!
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sixtouchfootball added 23:37 - Aug 4 Itfc in hull - thank you. My. Omment was based on comment from the cardiff forum but i have since seen he has a potential loan going through for the season subject to the transfer embargo being lifted. Which wont happen unless they pay off the money owed to clubs for previous transfers- chopra included.
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campowasgod added 23:40 - Aug 4 James Beattie evidently does not get on too well with Pullis , Blackpool offered £1m for him . How about Beattie +£1m for Walters ????
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carsey added 00:09 - Aug 5 Whatever the truth and lets face it we will never know Walters is one of our best players and works hard even when things aren't going well. I would far rather keep him and get rid of Keane
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Coolpooper added 01:01 - Aug 5 Over & over again I see the words "Good Business". Walters is/was our most influential player. Good business maybe but to weaken our squad further on close to the eve of the new season is just more Keane madness. Sorry to be negative but on whats happening at the club at the moment, missing out on relegation will be our cup final. I was hoping Evans would be the money man to put our club in its rightful place. Sadly I feel mistaken!

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WadzillaBhoy added 03:08 - Aug 5 He's our skipper hope he doesn't leave us, we need him. If its true about him wanting to leave then I guess we have to respect that but it doesnt take away the fact that he has been one of our best players for the last three seasons. He will be sorely missed. But I dont understand how people are saying this is Keano's fault...Madness!
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kerryblue added 03:10 - Aug 5 For that kind of money no problem,Walters had a poor season last season and felt Keane was always messing him around to be honest.Was not a good captain and I feel that this like Bruce +mcauley didnt help them as they hadnt the bottle for the job and their form suffered .I hope at this stage we bring in two big names before Saturday and my money is on Mark Kennady to be next Town captain,Norris needs to prove himself and he knows it.Good luck Jon but you really only had one decent season with us and hopefully well see you going down provided Clegg pulls his finger out and does something for a change and gets us a couple of big names at least.

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hollywoodginge added 09:12 - Aug 5 Just seen on skysports news Stoke are gonna sign a striker called loic remy from nice, it didn't mention anything about Walters tho.
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