Bournemouth, Brighton and Crystal Palace are all reportedly tracking Blues midfielder Andre Dozzell.

According to the Daily Mirror, the three Premier League clubs are eyeing the 19-year-old with the Blues said to want a fee of £5 million for the academy graduate.

England U20 international Dozzell, who has been linked with top flight clubs including Arsenal and Spurs in the past, has returned to action this season after missing all but 45 minutes of 2017/18 with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

So far he has made five starts and six sub appearances for the Blues and is yet to cement his place as a regular in the side.

Speaking in November, Dozzell’s father, Blues legend Jason, said his son was much happier at the club since Paul Lambert took over as boss and that a Premier League move was something for the longer term.

“We’re not looking at that,” he told BBC Radio Suffolk’s Life’s a Pitch. “I want him to do something at Ipswich Town. He’s 19 now and it hasn’t got going yet, with the injury and whatever else and Paul [Hurst] and the old regime, it hasn’t got going.

“Whatever happens, happens, but now he’s happy with the new regime, they’re speaking to him, he’s understanding what position they’re in, so he might have to bide his time a little bit longer and take it from there. But, as I say, he’s really happy at the moment, so that’s all I can ask for.”

Even if there is serious interest from the linked Premier League trio then it remains to be seen whether they would be willing to pay the sort of fee which would be acceptable to the Blues, even if they were prepared to sell, as Dozzell is still in the relatively early stages of his return from his serious injury.

The former Copleston High School pupil is contracted to Town until the summer of 2020 with the club having an option to keep him for a further year.

Photo: TWTD

unknown100 added 10:18 - Jan 9 Am I the only one who doesn't quite see the rave about dozzell? He's a very good player and his injury obviously set him back but not sure he will ever be a premier league midfielder?
12

JackSted added 10:20 - Jan 9 £5 million?!? If this was any other Championship team (Norwich, Derby etc) they'd be getting £10 million at a minimum. Why are we so lenient with prices???
-6

Radlett_blue added 10:20 - Jan 9 £5m would fund our annual loss nicely for a year, wouldn't it Marcus?
1

tractorshark added 10:22 - Jan 9 You're not the only one, Unknown100. Too much pressure and expectation on him because of his name. He's not as good as his dad at this age but they are very different players. Lots of potential and no doubt a good prospect but too many fans portray him as some sort of messiah and he's not that. I would be surprised if a Premier Lge club pays big money for him in this window.

9

Gilesy added 10:26 - Jan 9 Jack - it's a figure made up by the papers. Nothing to do with the club being lenient!
6

Saxonblue74 added 10:26 - Jan 9 He's a very talented youngster and at 19 still has a lot of development to come, both physically and mentally. Far too soon to sell him. Can't be compared to his father as he was playing in a much stronger team.
5

MooseJuice added 10:28 - Jan 9 "Why are we so lenient with prices???" Probably because when the likes of Norwich and Derby sell their good young players they have proven themselves by having one or two good/full seasons at this level I guess. Dozzell has made how many appearances for us... 20, if that? He may well be part of the England youth set up, but think he needs to prove himself at this level first before we go asking £20m for him. That said, would LOVE to see a home grown talent get to that sort of standard.

5

JackSted added 10:29 - Jan 9 Gilesy - I get where you're coming from. But what about Waghorn?
1

ArnieM added 10:29 - Jan 9 Good. Starting price / bids should be IRO £8m upwards. Make no mistake AD WILL leave this Club. So We need to cash in as we did with Dyer and give Lambert this money. Unfortunately this is business and Town needs to accept this as do the fans.
4

BlueBlood90 added 10:29 - Jan 9 £5m? Do one. Let him develop here in the first team for a couple of seasons and sell him for 4x that.
6

Bergholtblue added 10:35 - Jan 9 The vultures are gathering!
1

Northstandveteran added 10:36 - Jan 9 Struggling to get my head around premier league clubs bidding for a player that struggles to get a game for the bottom team in the championship? While most of us rate him, the current and previous two managers haven't. I understand the horrific injury he suffered was a terrible setback and has hindered his progress but we shouldn't concern ourselves with this paper talk.

5

Gilesy added 10:40 - Jan 9 Jack - yeah, but contract up, player not wanting to be here...how much did we get for Bramble? I still feel a little guilty about that!
0

RoyalAscotBlue added 10:45 - Jan 9 He is (essentially) contracted to us for 2.5 more seasons. Which means we do not have to sell, at any price. Yet! Relegation would change the dynamic though. Even if we won promotion at the first attempt, with Andre playing a staring role, he would then be in the last year of his contract and basically hold all the aces. I suspect he will go in the summer, if we are relegated. But he would still only play Championship football next year if he does go. Either as a permanent signing for a Championship club, or on loan to one from a Premiership club.

1

rugbytomc added 10:52 - Jan 9 I personally really rate him. However - I feel up and coming English youngsters are, in the majority, best served by either playing in the Premier League (if they are good enough and going to get game time) or by playing abroad - for the simple reason of physicality. Dozzell has vision, range of passing and a decent shot, but can get pushed off the ball too easily. He's strength will develop over time, but in (for example) Spain or Germany, even to an extend the premier league, that physicality isn't allowed as much by refs. So whilst I think it's good for him to be here this season, if we were to go down I don't think that helps his development (Lankester can probably afford a year in League one - Dozzell is further along in his development). So our best bet would be a sale to a club like Brighton or Palace or any other team that has a good track record of giving youngsters gametime and selling them on for a profit - so we hopefully make money down the line based on appearances or sell on fees. (Not that that worked out so well with Wickham and Mings!)

2

cbITFC added 10:55 - Jan 9 ME wont be able to resist getting money back as I don't believe I gives a monkeys about ITFC
-2

JackSted added 10:59 - Jan 9 Gilesy - I don't remember the Bramble story; I'm only 21 ;) Fair points though
0

BlueInBerks added 11:00 - Jan 9 If there is any truth in it (50:50), it reeks of 1) other clubs seeing our dire situation and trying to tempt us and 2) prem clubs especially wanting all the up and coming talent within their gene pool and not the competitors
0

timspencero added 11:08 - Jan 9 If we sell a highly promising 19 year old England international in 2019 for £5m then... I'll be speechless.
0

raycrawfordswig added 11:10 - Jan 9 Not ready to be Prem league bench warmer.
2

ElephantintheRoom added 11:13 - Jan 9 Never mind whether he is worth £5million (no doubt including £1million for first England cap and £3million when he wins the Ballon d'Or), or even if the occasional cup appearance elsewhere is good for his development. Don't you think it is really incredibly sad that Bournemouth, Palace and Brighton can be credibly portrayed as riches beyond Dozzel's wildest dreams. Go back a fifteen years and the Prem giants sneaking off with our silver were Charlton. Our diminished status is nothing new.

0

Michael101 added 11:14 - Jan 9 We have seen it all before,sell a player for five mil spent one mil on two u/s players the rest goes In evans back pocket, caching.
-1

Gilesy added 11:17 - Jan 9 It doesn't go into Evans back pocket does it. Let's look at the profit and loss sheet for his time at Portman Road. I don't like the guy either and seriously hope someone else comes along but this is silly.
7

RegencyBlue added 11:18 - Jan 9 Lets be honest here, there are two factors which will decide this. One is that Dozell, and a number of our other promising youngsters are not going to want to play League 1 football and their agents wll be looking to engineer moves for them. The second is that Evans has form for asset stripping the squad when it suits him and there will be plenty of offers from clubs who will be looking to take advantage of our situation.

0

rugbytomc added 11:27 - Jan 9 We got £6m for Bramble, but only £1m for Ambrose. I always liked to think the fees were the other way around ;-)
1

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