Town boss Paul Jewell says he expects Doncaster striker Billy Sharp to leave the South Yorkshire club in January due to a clause in his contract at the Keepmoat Stadium. The Blues manager had a £2.3 million offer for the ex-Sheffield United man turned down in the summer and confirmed recent reports claiming he’s still keen to bring the 25-year-old to Portman Road.

Jewell says Sharp, who was applauded by Town fans after scoring at Portman Road this weekend, is likely to be on the move come the reopening of the transfer window: “Doncaster will have to accept an offer because Billy Sharp has got a clause in his contract. If a club meets that valuation, they have to give him permission to speak.

“We’d like to have him here. There’s no hiding from the fact we tried to get him in the summer because he’s a quality Championship player — he might even be Premier League standard.”

After Doncaster rebuffed Town's offer for the one-time Scunthorpe frontman, along with a further £300,000 for midfielder James Coppinger, Sharp, who has another 18 months left on his Rovers deal, turned down a move to Southampton, the Saints having had a £3.25 million bid accepted by the South Yorkshiremen.

Jewell, who has spoken to club owner Marcus Evans about a new move for Sharp, says he expects Southampton, who are managed by the player's former Scunthorpe boss Nigel Adkins, to renew their interest in January. But even with the Saints currently at top of the Championship, he believes the Blues are in with a chance: “I know Billy was interested in coming here in the summer, so we’ll see what happens.”

Speaking after Saturday’s game at Portman Road, Doncaster boss Dean Saunders was keen to keep Sharp but conceded that he could be sold: “I don’t want to lose goalscorers.

“When you’re at the bottom of the league you don’t want to lose them. I’m sure they’re queuing up for Billy but I don’t want lose him, I want him to be in my team.

“But if somebody comes along and offers us a ridiculous amount of money, the club would probably have to say yes.

“But I don’t want to lose him, I want him to play for me because if you keep your best players, you get three points.”

Meanwhile, Jewell has revealed that midfielder Colin Healy came to see him on Monday, unhappy that he was the man subbed during the first half of Saturday's defeat to Doncaster: “He’s come into my office and voiced his dissent, which he’s entitled to do.

“I said after the game that I could have brought any of my midfielders off at that stage and Colin thinks it was an easy decision for it to be him."

Speaking on Saturday, Jewell said he could understand the Irishman's disappointment and why he walked straight down the tunnel after he was replaced.

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

textbackup added 14:52 - Nov 9 sharpe could/would be a signing in the david johnson mould... imo, i would love to see hime here but think maybe with whats gone on in his personal life he may want to stay put for the time
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SomershamBlue added 14:53 - Nov 9 Ah - oops - Lesta_Tractor!
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jong75 added 14:58 - Nov 9 If we knew there was a release fee in his contract why did we not match it when we tried to sign him in the summer?
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taylor15 added 14:59 - Nov 9 people are saying that we won't be offering him high wages. this is a player, who proves that he doesn't care about the money, and he plays because he loves the game - proven by him scoring for his son!
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shaunminx added 15:07 - Nov 9 Good on ya Healy and lets hope you gave him a few home truths while you was at it and told him how sh*te leadfoot really is. Yes Bullard was below par again but like Andrews there's a chance they come up with something so leave them on but leadbitter. What does he really do for the team??
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BtreeBlueBlood added 15:16 - Nov 9 Dont let him be the new kevin phllips. The 1 that got away.
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WarkyWonderLand added 16:03 - Nov 9 If they know of the figure then they should have went for it in the summer. £300k for coppinger was an insult. However, we still need the ammunition to pull the trigger. Both chops goals against he created himself. Think its time jewell became stronger and actually played a balanced side with pace rather than a system to fit his so called captain in. The only player who can do something different is jet and has to play him, even though he is frustrating. We have no others other than chops who scares the opposition. We need another run otherwise its going to be another long winter. Coyb

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shaunminx added 16:42 - Nov 9 @ WarkyWonderland Yes jet is frustrating and I slated him the other week on here but surely he must bring us more than our captain unmarvel doesn't he.
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OldClactonBlue added 17:02 - Nov 9 He'd be awesome when we hoof the ball forward, as is unfortunately increasingly the case. Would like too see him here, but until we get an effective midfield it will only be papering over cracks. And PJ needs to be far more insightful and tougher to fix that. That is my worry, you would think he would know by now what ingredients he needs for success, and that it isn't 4 central midfielders, one of whom does nothing to influence the game in a positive way.

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jas0999 added 17:20 - Nov 9 I very much doubt we will be able to negotiate a deal. People forget we only managed to sign THREE players on fees all Summer; one of those we couldn't actually agree a deal and hence it went to tribunal (Cresswell), one was for a player who Cardiff desperately wanted to sell and no one else wanted (Chopra) and the other (JET) it would seem we paid well over the odds - although time will tell. The rest were has been injury prone freebies and loans. Re Healy, he was absolutely RIGHT to have a go at PJ. A poor decision to select him to start with, but an even worse one taking him off, when PJ's 'mate' Bullard was without doubt the worse player on the pitch by a country mile - and has been since he returned on a no doubt lucrative 2-year permanent deal. The Hull fans did warn us! This was just another abysmal decision by PJ. I dread to think what the response would have been if Jim/Roy did this and delivered half the thrashings PJ has served up.

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riley26 added 17:59 - Nov 9 Lack of height maybe however I am pretty sure Sharp has scored with his head in both of his last games at Portman Road, not an issue.
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Mark added 17:59 - Nov 9 I generally prefer the tall-man short-man partnerships that have served us well over the years, but a quality striker like Sharp would add to the fire power and I hope he could play with Chopra. After all, Scotland isn't a tall man either and he was first choice during the recent good spell. Bullard was left on presumably because he scored in his previous match and for his set pieces even if he isn't playing well. I am surprised to read critism of Jewell for signing Bullard after his fantastic loan spell and when most fans were saying we should pay big money to secure him. We got him on a free transfer (not £2.7M like Leadbitter) and I think Jimmy is a good player, he just needs more of an attacking role in my opinion.

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Pip50 added 18:18 - Nov 9 With all due respect to Mr Sharp and family......can we start applauding some defenders who might sign. If I'm not mistaken we are pretty sh** in this area.
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denhamblue added 18:37 - Nov 9 ha aint comming.
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rexron added 18:49 - Nov 9 Wish we could get a striker or an offensive midfielder who has "Pablo style", but scores more.
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s6blue added 19:28 - Nov 9 sign him up
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TimmyH added 19:44 - Nov 9 Can't see the point of signing him unless he gets good service from the midfielders and currently that aint happening, neither he nor Chopra are the tallest of players. Sort that creeky defence and spluttering midfield out first!
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yorksblue added 19:49 - Nov 9 Billy Clarke, on loan at Sheff Utd from Blackpool is on fire at the moment. Now where have I heard his name before?
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StochesStotasBlewe added 21:24 - Nov 9 No service = no goals. Would be a great signing, but surely we have to sort our leaky defense out first, then the midfield have to provide the ammo. However, would welcome Mr Sharp to our club with open arms.
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h32 added 22:49 - Nov 9 bluelady - agree with you totally - Sharp playing for us right now would be no more impressive than what we've already got. After Saturday, even allowing for the support of the crowd, I bet I know who Sharp would rather play for right now - and I really cannot see it being any different in January. In terms of preference by Mr Sharp I guess it would be Southampton, then Doncaster, with us bringing up the rear. Just not going to happen.

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churchmans added 22:49 - Nov 9 chopra and sharp partneship sounds brilliant!
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h32 added 22:56 - Nov 9 pinewoodblueboy - spot on - defense and midfield need sorting big time, before we demoralise anymore strikers. Sharp is class and would be a great signing - but he 'needs what all striker's need'.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:46 - Nov 10 Sorry, but don't get too carried away. I very much doubt he'll come to us!
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portlandblue added 09:28 - Nov 10 jsut heard gio dos santos could be available in jan aswell.
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thechangingman added 09:50 - Nov 10 It's always easy to spend someone else's money isn't it? lol. Yeah, sign him up, let's have 100 strikers and a leaky defence! At one level, I'd love to see him here, but realistically (and honestly) I think some of this opinion is sentimentality and my willingness to see buying players as someone else spending money that isn't mine... Just some thoughts...
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