Town’s move to sign Rangers striker Joe Garner is expected to be completed later this week, TWTD understands.

TWTD revealed that the Blues were close to making their first signing of the season on Sunday with a fee of £1 million - Town's first seven-figure outlay since the recruitment of Paul Taylor for £1.5 million from Peterborough in August 2012 - having been agreed between the clubs.

The further formalities relating to the deal are in the process of being concluded with Garner, 29, set to pen a three-year contract with the Blues.

Garner moved to Ibrox from Preston for £1.4 million last summer, when Town we understand were also interested, signing a three-year contract.

The former England U16, U17 and U19 international scored 10 goals in 22 starts and 12 sub appearances during 2016/17.

Garner started his career with his hometown club Blackburn Rovers but was unable to break into the first team prior to moving on to Carlisle, initially on loan, then Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield (loan), Scunthorpe (loan), Watford and Carlisle for a further loan spell before joining Preston in 2013.

While with the Lilywhites the 5ft 10in tall frontman scored a 20-minute second-half hat-trick as the Lancastrians beat the Blues 3-2 in an FA Cup third round replay at Deepdale in January 2014.

The following season Garner won the League One Player of the Year award as he helped Preston into the Championship via the play-offs.

Photo: Action Images

Roberds added 13:18 - Jun 13 Great news and good to see us splashing a bit of cash. More please!
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hoppy added 13:19 - Jun 13 Despite a lot of people moaning that he's not worth it and not the right choice, I'm happy to see how he does once he's in a Town shirt. Hopefully the first arrival of a few...
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TractorCam added 13:20 - Jun 13 Typical town, expected Monday and then ends up later and later!
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ASAx added 13:21 - Jun 13 Although I was joking when I made the comment that our scouting department only seems to cover players that once had a good game against us ... 'scored a 20 minute second-half hat-trick as the Lancastrians beat the Blues'. I'll judge him on his time at Portman Road however.
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hoppy added 13:24 - Jun 13 TractorCam - how many games will he miss with this delay?
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12th_Man added 13:27 - Jun 13 So thats friday then
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MeenoITFC added 13:28 - Jun 13 Really happy with this. I dont understand some town fans, signings from last year were moaned at then turned out well! Evans has invested which is a plus and theres activity. Garner is a good player, and is capable of improving!
3

BobbyBell added 13:32 - Jun 13 I would normally find this kind of news uplifting but last season we were limited to one or two chances per game due to our negative style. What striker can thrive on that?. We need to change our attitude and supply this fella with some decent crosses and through balls. When we start attacking teams and giving our strikers some decent service then maybe we could bring the best out of Garner. I seriously hope this proves to be a great signing but it's not just about the players we get in it's the whole defensive mentality that needs to change.

8

Michael11 added 13:33 - Jun 13 Well one bonus is that even if he's a flop, he can't be a worse signing than Paul Taylor was. Very unproven in the Championship, but so was David McGoldrick and Freddie Sears when we signed them. Hopefully he can prove his worth. A winner against Norwich would make it worth it.
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Hoofball added 13:36 - Jun 13 MICK OUT!
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Wickets added 13:47 - Jun 13 And while we are shopping in Scotland, maybe we should be looking at Liam Boyce ?
3

cleggo added 13:48 - Jun 13 not at all inspired by this one. Always hated him as an opponent. Hope he proves me wrong
2

Len_Brennan added 13:48 - Jun 13 £1m is a significant outlay given the frugal nature of spending at Portman Road in recent years, but particularly when it's on a player who is 29 and yet unproven at this level. That doesn't mean he can't be a success & he has certainly had periods of form when you might think £1m is a steal; but overall his career to date, which is quite some time, does not inspire a joyous response as a great 'bums on seats' acquisition and we've surely reduced our overall transfer budget greatly in doing so. He's

8

OsborneOneNil added 13:52 - Jun 13 Be good to get him on board.
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BlueNomad added 13:52 - Jun 13 Moan moan moan moan............................
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PortmanTerrorist added 13:52 - Jun 13 Does not fit the 5-point plan Is not proven at this level or higher Does not inspire Those are the facts, and what is also a fact is that this might be the best we can hope for. If it works out it will be more due to luck than design as he surely could not be first choice on ANYONE's list. Hope we get lucky !
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StokeHigh97 added 14:03 - Jun 13 we all need to be honest: Hull Sunderland Boro, Sheff Wed Fulham, Norwich Villa Derby Leeds Reading, Birmingham Wolves Cardiff: if we go 1on1 with any of these sides for a player we willnt complete: this season is going to be a real struggle unless we do what Huddersfield & Reading did spend between 5-6 million: we need 2/3 players in the 1-3m range that can get us into the top half: as for Garner I never judge a player till I see him: if he scores 10-15 goals it will be a major success: I still think we need another striker like Murphy who can hold it up, make the midfield get further up the pitch & bring others into play: it's going to be a long summer too find out whether Evans wants Premier league football or happy for a half empty stadium & completing in the bottom 8:

4

ShropshireBluenago09 added 14:28 - Jun 13 This is a typical MM signing. A harworking, scrapper. Was decent for Preston and scored some cracking goals. Sounds like he lost his way a bit at Rangers with injuries. Not a flagship signing but a good addition to the squad.
2

braveblue added 14:29 - Jun 13 What could we buy in Europe for that money if only we had scouts.
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ArnieM added 14:32 - Jun 13 Maybe the combination of Sears Garner and McGoldrick up front is not a bad one? Get Huws signed and Bishop gets his act together plus Wards firm in midfield and the Macclesfield winger we signed last season we will start to be looking like a team that could cause problems.
4

DerbyBlue76 added 14:34 - Jun 13 @PortmanTerrorist very good point about the 5 point plan. Phil has there been any word from the club about how this fits into the strategic direction the club said that they are going in? Seems very odd to announce a strategy and then the first major piece of investment does not fit this strategy
3

Pencilpete added 14:38 - Jun 13 £1m for a 29 Year old who has failed at this level before is a lot IMO having said that I am pleased some money is being spent, that can only be a positive and hopefully he is the first piece of the jigsaw and we should wait until we can see the whole puzzle before we pass judgement.
4

Slambo added 14:40 - Jun 13 Say what you want about McCarthy, but there's no doubting his ability in the transfer market. The fact he's willing to shell out a million quid on Garner, plus give him a contract of a few years I would presume, shows he must have something about him. My original point still stands though - this signing MUST MUST MUST be supplemented with creative midfielders. But it's still only the middle of June... braveblue - excellent point. We're really missing a trick not scouting abroad more thoroughly...

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christiand added 14:42 - Jun 13 Could prove to be a decent signing, let's hope this goes through. MM we need an out and out winger and an attacking midfielder next.
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Brownie added 14:56 - Jun 13 Apparently the moved was delayed whilst he read all the positive comments about when TWTD broke the story..
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