Town boss Paul Hurst says he can’t guarantee that Martyn Waghorn will still be with the Blues on the opening day of the season, the club having received “firm interest” in their star striker. Last month, TWTD revealed that numerous Championship clubs were chasing the 28-year-old with Middlesbrough and Birmingham City among those keen, while Derby County have subsequently shown strong interest and Nottingham Forest have also been linked and Sheffield United are now reported to have made a £5 million bid.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview on Mark Murphy’s BBC Radio Suffolk breakfast show this morning, which can be heard in full here, Hurst outlined the position regarding Waghorn, who scored 16 times and recorded 11 assists following last August’s £200,000 move from Rangers.

“I’m not here to try and fool anyone, I never do. There is interest there, firm interest,” he confirmed.

“I’ve said to Martyn that I would like him to stay at the football club, we’ll see how that unfolds.

“I’d love to be able to say, ‘100 per cent, Martyn Waghorn will be in the team against Blackburn’, but I can’t honestly say that.

“But at the minute I don’t think we’re close to meeting a valuation for the player and I’d like him here.”

Hurst says he’d have to spend a lot to find a replacement for the ex-Sunderland, Leicester and Wigan man.

“It was a fantastic deal that Mick [McCarthy] and the football club did to bring him in at that level and also what he produced was fantastic,” he added.

“His stats were arguably the highest in the Championship in terms of goals and assists, so he’s a major player for us.”

Regarding incoming signings, with the transfer window closing on August 9th, he said: “We have [to move quickly]. We’re certainly trying [to get players in]. My phone is in danger of exploding, I’m having lots of conversations and other people at the football club are working extremely hard to do that.

“At the same time we won’t be held to ransom, we’ve got to get value for money, and that’s what we’ll continue to try and do.”

Photo: TWTD

crazyblue68 added 10:16 - Jul 19 The big part is we only have 3 weeks to get all these players in. We need 2 centre backs, another winger and if Waghorn goes, probably 2 new strikers. I think we are going to be in real trouble here. The club is being very naive as usual over signings.
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Nazemariner added 10:16 - Jul 19 Sounds to me like Hurst is touting our number 1 striker.
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TimmyH added 10:17 - Jul 19 I had a feeling we wouldn't keep both Bart and Waghorn, will be very disappointed to see him go...if so more money coming into the club! I'd bet my bottom dollar that not all of it will be put back into the squad.
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jimmyjames added 10:30 - Jul 19 we've kept Bart now keep Wag... 2 vital players at opposite ends of the field... build the team around them. £7m is short term gain, but without Waghorn our hopes of getting into the Prem are shortened... if we get there he's worth more than £7m to the club
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Razor added 10:30 - Jul 19 Nice to see a manager being honest and I actually trust him. Lots of flouncing about Bart earlier and that he may leave and he has stayed----may well be the same situation here-------hopefully!!
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tractorboybig added 10:35 - Jul 19 If sold then this club has no ambition we cant afford anything to replace him, of his quality. could say he was mm best aqusition
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afrodids added 10:36 - Jul 19 If a serious offer comes in we have to take it. We need at least 3 more players to stave off relegation and possibly 6 to mount a serious challenge for promotion. There are a lot of dead wood in our club, when I watch them it astounds me they are professional players. We made the mistake of holding onto mcgoldrick, who in honesty only really had one good season. As much as I'd like for us to keep waghorn we've got to look at the bigger picture. As I've said don't expect miracles from Hurst, Sh1t players are Sh1t players we need forward thinking talented players who will respond to better coaching.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 10:50 - Jul 19 Very impressed with Hurst in the interview. This is a guy who in a few years may attain the "Mr Ipswich" status I award to the favoured few: Ramsey, Robson (obviously) and Burley. Very straight, without the bullish attitude we have known and got rather bored with in the recent past. The facts are 1) Hurst doesn't want to sell Waghorn, and 2) We will sell if the price is right. Interestingly, Hurst said he treats ITFC money as if it were his own, so he's not going to sell us short. My supposition (not fact), also based on what Hurst said, is that Waghorn is happy at the club and in the area, so he is not pushing for a move particularly. If he does go, which I hope is not the case, I have confidence that Hurst will bring in someone who will do a good job. Having said that, Waghorn would be very hard to replace with anything like the money we have available.

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Woodbridgian added 10:54 - Jul 19 It would be great if Waghorn was to stay and we should be offering him improved terms to stay,but ultimately it will be down to the player as much as the club. People can say if he leaves it shows a lack of ambition by the club at to some extent thats true, but if as with Murphy the player really wants to go then theres not much any club can do about it. The real test of ambition is what is done with the money if we can get £5m plus at it all goes into players then maybe it won't be the end of the world as some seem to think. Also a good as he was last season there's no guarantee he will repeat that this season as he hasn't done it at other clubs before. We turned down £8m for McGoldrick once and definitely regretted that! The only must in all of this is we can't lose him on the last day of the window as with Murphy it needs sorting well before then.

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martin587 added 10:56 - Jul 19 We either trust the manager or we don't.Obviously some don't,but I do and I'm sure a vast majority of Town supporters do. We do need funds to built a strong team under Paul and it's true the only way we can do this is to sell.As far as I'm aware Waghorn has not stated he wants to leave so that's fine by me but should he leave then anything under 5 Mil would be a giveaway. We do still need two defenders and another striker which won't come cheap so I suppose selling is the only option.Sad to say but true. I suggest we all give the manager a chance.Too many managers on this site.!!

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beno2554 added 11:17 - Jul 19 Maybe another murphy had one good season hasnt done much since or before if the money is right sell him
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itfchorry added 11:41 - Jul 19 This could send Jas099 over the edge !!!
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Karlosfandangal added 11:53 - Jul 19 About time the club put anew contract on the table for him along the lines of the one Bart signed.
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Taricco_Fan added 11:57 - Jul 19 If the price is right then sell. We bought for around £200k and could recoup £5m+ in the space of a year. He's a good player but not irreplaceable. Last year could have been a one-off for him. Likewise, we probably should have offloaded McGoldrick when the big offer came in. But...the money HAS to be reinvested. If Waghorn goes we will have brought in around £10m this summer. Hurst must be backed.

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wherescounago added 12:09 - Jul 19 If he goes it will be a great shame and a huge blow for us. The only positive to come out of it is that I have had a small wager with a friend several weeks ago that he would be gone before the first leagues match, it looks like I will be collected from him. Although I would be more than happy to see Waggy stay and I pay up!!
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BrettenhamBlue added 12:13 - Jul 19 Just hope this doesn't drag on until transfer deadline day. Ho hum.
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TonyHumesIpswich added 12:20 - Jul 19 To sell our best outfielder is a huge mistake. By the looks of things, we've sold and released so many players already that Hurst will be popping in to the Halberd Inn on a Friday to see who can play! Lol We need Waghorn to get us the goals to avoid relegation this season. We have already lost our second best outfielder (Webster). What next? Knudsen?
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ThePinkMist added 12:28 - Jul 19 I'm nervous about the season ahead.
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TonyHumesIpswich added 12:30 - Jul 19 I'm very nervous about the season ahead too.
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jas0999 added 12:32 - Jul 19 Worrying. With two weeks until kick off, we have signed just theee players. PH has stated more will go. Forget Waghorn for the moment, we urgently need numerous additions to this squad. Is there time to permanently replace Waghorn when so far we haven't replaced Webster, nor signed further additions to key positions. McGoldrick needs replacing. The answer here is NOT loan signings. I don't want to hear the usual spin. If we sell Waghorn we MUST have a permanent addition lined up. We MUST sign a permanent addition for Webster. I have a bad feeling that we will end up with the usual excuses and a squad full of loans. Can't see that strategy which is completely against the five point plan, enticing folk back to PR. Time for Evans to be very busy and secure deals to enhance our very small and average squad.

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toxtethblue added 12:37 - Jul 19 What we bought him for is utterly irrelevant. It's what he's worth to us now that matters
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GiveusaWave added 12:47 - Jul 19 For those talking about relegation I do feel we are better than Rotherham, Blackburn and Birmingham... Time will tell...we play two of those three in our first two games... We do still have time to sign players...but I am growing ncreasingly alarmed by our lack of quality. We certainly shouldn't be considering selling right now...we should be working hard on bringing a number of players in.... We did really struggle last season with squad depth...especially near the end of the season. It's going to be even tougher this season on that front.

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locky81 added 12:49 - Jul 19 @TractorBoyTommy not sure where you get the idea Birmingham are ambitious?! They've finished below Town every year for the past 5years and in three of those they've been 19th & 20th! There's several teams now in the Championship that have had major investment but that doesn't necessarily make them ambitious, it just means the market is flooded with inflated prices and it makes our job harder to try and compete, wheeling and dealing. Losing Waggy would be a massive blow, unless he wants to leave or we get offered stupid money, there is no way we should sell. I would be disappointed if he wanted to leave tbh, especially to a Birmingham, Forest or Sheff Utd. Those are the teams we should be competing with, apart from the big6 I don't think we have anyone to fear. I hope PH can get us playing the right way and find some lower league gems but only time will tell. We have a good core squad, our midfield is strong, we just had so many injuries last year we never got to see the best of them. Keeping hold of Bart is massive and if we can get in another couple of players especially a decent defender after losing Smithy & Webby then we should be ok. Im looking forward to the season ahead for once, so hopefully that wont be ruined by us losing all our best players in the meantime. COYB ...Still not too sure about the new kit and that horrible sponsor though!!

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Swn98 added 12:50 - Jul 19 I was suprised but pleased Bart stayed perhaps Wags doesn't like the Hurst way? Whatever the outcome we can't keep selling quality players replacing them with league 1 and 2 players and hoping to progress.
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JimmyP45 added 12:58 - Jul 19 If we lose him we are doomed. Will struggle to stay in the league without any decent attacking players.
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