Blues boss Paul Hurst says Derby are still to reach Town’s valuation for striker Martyn Waghorn despite having joined Sheffield United in making a bid but admits that all players have their price.

The Rams are understood to have offered the Blues a fee which ultimately could total £8 million after clauses but with the initial sum only £5 million.

Sheffield United, who have since ruled themselves out of the race, made an offer of approaching £5 million - presumably also including some further clauses - three weeks ago which was flatly turned down by the Blues.

“There have been bids, not only from [Derby], Sheffield United made a bid but unless anything’s changed that I haven’t been made aware of, nothing’s been at the values which I’ve seen reported and nothing’s at a value that I think can make us seriously consider that,” Hurst said following today’s Open Day at Portman Road.

“Maybe people would say that I shouldn’t say that as a manager, but I’m not stupid, everyone has a price. But at the same time, I don’t think we’re there yet, so there’s not anything to really consider.

“It’s a difficult situation, there’s no getting away from that, it’s not ideal, for the player, the football club, for me as manager, but it is football and we know it happens.

“At the minute, my advice to Martyn is that he’s got to be professional, he’s got to get on with it and make sure that if something does happen, what he doesn’t want to do is slip backwards in terms of his levels of performance for if he ended up elsewhere. And if he stays here, he needs to be ready to contribute greatly as we know he can.”

Hurst admits that ideally he’d like the matter sorted sooner rather than later: “The ideal scenario is that but at the same time we just spoke about a valuation. Just because I’d like it resolved doesn’t mean we’ll go, ‘Oh, we’ll take less money then’. That’s not the best decision for the football club and moving forward.

“It’s got to be right. I know there’ll be fans who will be saying, ‘It doesn’t matter what we’re offered, we can’t let him go’, they’ll want him here. I get that but we’ve got to do what’s right and best for this football club.

“I think we all understand where we’re at in the league that we’re in and unfortunately there are people out there with a lot bigger chequebooks, budgets so that if someone does come in and do really well for this football club, we’re going to be open to that.

“What I’ve got to try and do is somehow have a little bit more success and just create the best environment we can to try to maybe make it still more appealing to play here and play football.”

Hurst says his talks with Waghorn, who trained with the rest of the squad at Portman Road earlier this afternoon, will remain private.

“We’ve had more than one conversation,” he added. “I’m not going to say what Martyn said. I think if he chooses to do that, it’s down to him but those conversations will remain private and I’ll ask people to respect that.”

Middlesbrough are also still believed to be very keen on Waghorn, while Birmingham are also eyeing the situation and Nottingham Forest have been linked.

Photo: TWTD

Northstandveteran added 17:51 - Jul 26 Hear hear TommyH 😴😴😴😴
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Northstandveteran added 17:52 - Jul 26 TimmyH 😂 Melting.....
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reva added 18:02 - Jul 26 Much of the hype is to do with the media - speculation and reporting something or trying to stir some action to get a story. Every little word analysed to build it into a headline - lets wait until something happens - but for goodness sake lets hope it happens soon as this can affect the whole team.
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jas0999 added 18:26 - Jul 26 Can't fault the club for sticking to their valuation. But, with the first game a week away and the transfer window closing shortly afterwards, it would be even more disappointing if we sold without time to sign other players. The squad is already very stretched which is difficult to comprehend, seems we've had a couple of months to strengthen.
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Wooly added 19:01 - Jul 26 We are one week from kick off and in danger of losing without much doubt our main star and goal threat. Am I the only one who is now exceptionally worried for our season ahead. We (fans) have put pressure onto a seasoned professional manager who saved us from certain relegation and replaced him with a young, totally unknown and unproven manager who has purchase a couple of lower league players in the hope they will hit the Championship running. Where are the regular goals coming from? Who is going to create the chances from midfield? Who is going to be the strength in the middle of defence? Answers on a postcard please to PO Box I fear the worst!!!

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dirtydingusmagee added 19:11 - Jul 26 mib I saw a bloke selling The Big Issue the other day who looked like Mick the Murphyless.
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blue86 added 19:28 - Jul 26 Lol what about sell waghorn, and get Giles coke and Liam best back!.....seriously though this situation is getting tedious now, I hope waghorn does stay I really do. It needs to be sorted asap for all invloved! Coyb
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Talbs77 added 19:40 - Jul 26 What's the betting we sell Waghorn over weekend early next then next week trying to replacement players in and fail miserably. Unless ME dramatically changes so Hurst can bring 4 quality players in its going to be a struggle this season. Worried.
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BlueJohn added 20:02 - Jul 26 Waghorn will go - I've no doubt at all about that. Derby spend money like there is no tomorrow and will eventually pay the asking price. The key thing is how much of the fee does PH get to spend and when. Give him the best part of £8m less Rangers' cut and we could bring in some decent, young and ambitious players. On that basis I would say it's a good deal for the club. If PH gets none of the money or very little then I would say it's a good deal for ME but not for the team.

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braveblue added 20:48 - Jul 26 Love so many saying hold out for best price. Then we have no time to buy a replacement. Evans says he would have reinvested but will do in January. Start the season two quality strikers down. Sound familiar?
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Swn98 added 21:31 - Jul 26 Mib you tool it was MM who got Waghorn for 200k now worth 5/8million.
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Swn98 added 21:35 - Jul 26 By the way reading the posts over the last few days I think those that wished for something different are starting to get squeaky bums.
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onemarcusstewart added 22:10 - Jul 26 Keep your powder dry swn98 your told you so time will come
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BrettenhamBlue added 23:17 - Jul 26 It's going to happen transfer deadline day isn't it? Derby with all the power here. They have the money, they'll just wait until the last minute to see what kind of deal they can finalise, which will leave us up Poop Street without a paddle. Not looking forward to this season. Not looking forward to it at all.
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mathiemagic added 06:43 - Jul 27 There really is nothing to discuss. This affair is being handled in completely the right way. We don't have to sell, we don't want to sell and have put a fair price on the lads head. Either pay up or go looking elsewhere. I for one however would like Waggy to come out and make a statement one way or the other. He either wants to stay or he doesn't so would be good to clear that up for the fans if nothing else. Other than that until the valuation is reached then he is an Ipswich Town player and PH should continue to consider him as part of his plans for the Blackburn game.

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Essexipswichboy added 07:43 - Jul 27 Need to nip this in the bud now Whack a 12m price tag on his head... Non neg Or he will be bought this week and we won't get a replacement..... Or lose all the money made by being held to ransome Obviously no one else out there so we need to be really careful
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