Burnley have emerged as Town’s main rivals for the signature of Swindon striker Charlie Austin with the Robins having accepted an offer from the Clarets for the highly-rated frontman. The Blues have so far been unable to agree personal terms with the 21-year-old, who was locked in talks at Portman Road yesterday after the clubs agreed a fee believed to be approaching £2 million.

The Blues are understood to have offered Austin a three-and-a-half-year deal but are yet to match the terms required by the former Poole striker.

Now Burnley have matched Town’s bid to Swindon and have been given permission to speak to the former Poole frontman with talks taking place at Turf Moor today.

Blackpool and Southampton have also expressed an interest in the one-time bricklayer but have not yet had offers accepted by the Robins.

Austin knows new Burnley boss Eddie Howe well having come close to joining his former club Bournemouth before he joined for Swindon. The Cherries were unable to complete his signing as they had a transfer embargo in place at the time and he moved to the County Ground instead.

However, Austin is believed to want to remain in this south if possible and a switch to Town is understood to appeal, if he can agree terms.

Photo: Action Images

gypo added 10:37 - Jan 28 2 clubs had bid accepted ipswich and burnley how do we know he`s turned us down, All i hope he is doing is seeing whats on offer at burnley and then make his mind up. He`s going to go to a club that can give him a better wage and contract no matter what league he`s come from. Any player at any level would do the samething.
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brittaniaman added 10:37 - Jan 28 So the rumours were right last night after all, amazing where they come from, espescially when they are true. I thought someone was just stirring it up, like somebody suggested last night.
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Worcester added 10:38 - Jan 28 Bobble - whateveer you are taking can I have some please?
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bobble added 10:38 - Jan 28 i heard the beer is bloody awful up there and the ladies are as ugly as prince charles passport photo this geezer would be a lunatic to even consider it i mean in suffolk we pride ourselves on the beauty of our beer and our tasty refreshing ladies
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BwoodBlue added 10:40 - Jan 28 Another one slips away. Brilliant
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ClassyIpswichLass added 10:40 - Jan 28 Right, everyone get over to this site: http://www.burnley.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/category-view.asp and make out that Swindon are already printing Burnley replica no.9 shirts with "Eeyore" printed on the back.
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StavangerBlue added 10:41 - Jan 28 Charlie Austin, Swindon (20th position in League One), scored 17 goals this year. Jordan Rhodes, Huddersfield (3rd Position in League One), scored 16 goals this year. Charlie Austin, valued close to £2m. Jordan Rhodes, sold for an undisclosed fee. Did we get close to £2m for Jordan Rhodes...I seriously doubt it.
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tractor_boy_varnz added 10:42 - Jan 28 its ridiculous how much crap clegg gets! Austin could be asking for ridiculous wages and we dont want to get into anymore financial trouble! for what we all know he could be training at playford road now and town will announce the signing at 11............. stay positive! he said he wanted to be south, why would he want to be all the way at burnley, they dont have the location, we have a better manager, better squad, better stadium, better training facilities, better fans (well the majority)!!!

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bluekeen added 10:43 - Jan 28 I Have never seen Ipswich Town continually balls up contract negoications like this before once upon a time once the fee was agreed the terms wre the easy bit. this issue i put squarely at the man who does the negociating .. Mr Clegg he does not know or understand our club .. for this man it is about money and nothing else. We used to be the club getting the players to sign for us .. even for less money than others were paying because they undersood what it was to player for a club that provided england with two managers a captian... In my humble opion I believe that town need to replace Clegg with someone with the capability to sell the dream of playing for ipswich town and not just 1.5m in the bank.......because in reality that is probaly the figure we were offering this boy... that should be the easy bit...

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mkblue added 10:43 - Jan 28 I dont mean to be negative but what is the point of Clegg so far all he has done is let a vast number of players go at the end of last season beginning of this, granted some needed to be moved on, and left us paper thin on cover so much so that we have to rely on the youngsters before they are ready. He then fails (for what ever reason) to replace them with the managers identified targets. Moving on a few months and he is excelling himself with degrees of incompetence. He seems unable to negotiate new contracts with existing players (who im sure would stay for the right offer) and then he has a bright young striker in Portman Road for the best part of a day, fails to agree terms and lets him trott off to Burnley who we are competing with for league postition!!!! The question M/E should ask is do we need an incompitent plum negotiating our transfers and would he be better saving on Cleggs salary and employing a cold bowl of soup, the results would be the same!! Sorry about the rant but it saddens me to see anodine pigmies (Clegg) ruining the club that I love and being payed hansomely for the privilige of doing it. Even if we get Austin Clegg has proved to be ineffectual at best and should be moved on

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blueherts added 10:45 - Jan 28 Guys , Do you not think Agents have alot of the say .. ME is a businessman - successful ( allegedly) and is wealthy . If you are a player - who is wanted by many clubs and you and your agent sit down - are you gonna accept what they offer or ask for best possible deal for you - this kid is being chased by diff clubs - He now , apparently , has a good relationship with Howe ... it would possibly be a clincher but we do not know - No point second guessing either saying Clegg this etc - players and agents - especially young English ones are greedy - I would like CA at the club - Why do u think Bullard joined us paul jewell - same reason - CA may ?? join Burnley - Eddie Howe .. lets wait and see - people dont just talk to one club or one company if they are wanted by a several - do they ?? ..3 points vs Derby

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prawnsandwich added 10:46 - Jan 28 We had him here and let him slip through our fingers, great. Half the battle is getting him to agree to come to Portman Road for a talk, then we f**k it up in the boardroom. Town must have known his terms before the meeting, something is rotten here, and Austin smelt it. Burnley will sign him, start looking again PJ. Shame.
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blueherts added 10:51 - Jan 28 Alot of our fans are not happy unless they are moaning - I thought the moaning finished when The Clown left the building - lets just enjoy the new reign of Paul Jewell and a new energized team - blimey - some of you guys need a hobby or a job
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bluekeen added 10:52 - Jan 28 I think that alot of the problem with clegg is he is an outcast so Agents dont respect him Mk Blue i am with u I have thought since the summer he should go..... he has no obvious ability to negociate or tip the balance of negociation in his favor. Meaning people feel they can walk away or nor comit. He simply does not want the Business
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Tractorog added 10:53 - Jan 28 Calm down he is prolific in a lower division but unproven in the championship. if he is demanding stupid wages it may be his ego is a problem... the important thing is the team. if he joins then great, if not then shame, but not the end of the world.
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kerryblue added 10:56 - Jan 28 I totaly agree with MKBLue,Clegg has had more players coming to Portman Road looking for a deal and he has let more of them slip through his fingers than I care to mention.Will someone tell him its not just loan players that we want but someone like Austin on a permanent deal.
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Garv added 10:58 - Jan 28 Grr stop blaming Clegg everyone! If Austin is demanding lots of money and we can't afford it, what can we do? Blame Evans if anyone for not giving him what be wants! It's clearly all money motivated, he can't have been on much at Swindon and now he's going to a bigger club he's getting greedy and going for as much as possible.
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bluekeen added 10:58 - Jan 28 I do Agree but this must be the tenth/ twelth palyer we have had come see us and turn us down in 2 years.... there is a problem with that because when u dont get ur first second thrid fourth or even fifth choice signing u are going to have a weak ass squad....... what is our problem at the min. case in point we go for chopra and get scotland one looks hungry and wants to win games the other looks unfit a yard of the pace and at time disinterested.

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BlueStu78 added 11:00 - Jan 28 Come on guys get this DONE COYB!!!!!!!
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bobble added 11:03 - Jan 28 is the beer cheaper up there ? tell im if he signs for town he can have our double yoker on top of what the rich tax dodger pays him she lays at least 3 double yokers a week never fails sort of like johnny wark but not as good looking
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Muncher added 11:07 - Jan 28 If the player comes to the club and demands £20k a week and we say no, we want you to play here but that's too much and does not fit in with our prudent wage structure and the player goes elsewhere, that is NOT the fault of Clegg or anyone else at the club. We have simply NO IDEA of what any sticking point may or may not be. I suspect what has happened in the last few years is that the club have a) set a more sustainable wage structure, quite rightly and b) players come here thinking we have a rich owner who will pay anything so chance their arm.

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HadleighBlueBoy added 11:07 - Jan 28 Not sure who is to blame as I dont know enough about the inner workings of ITFC to be able to judge, unlike others on here it seems! Having said that something is clearly wrong because there is a pattern emerging of getting deals underway but failing to complete them. If we cannot or will not match the wages being offered by the likes of Burnley, Crystal Palace in the summer and now it seems Portsmouth (in the case of Norris) then the fans need to be told about this apparent lack of ambition and what the long term plan actually is.

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bluelady added 11:08 - Jan 28 How can you not put some blame in board if he gets signed by burnley what message of intent does it give off? We were leading the line but don't have the ambition or foresight to see this guy if he prooves himself at this level could be worth three four or five times worth current value, well done burnley for having the vision.
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jutever added 11:08 - Jan 28 Can not belive we are missing out again...and again, and again, Remember a chap called Kevin Phillips !!! - Boss man needs to fund dream £££
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bobble added 11:10 - Jan 28 one day something really serious is going to happen .......at least you people seem prepared
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