Town look set to receive a significant windfall with former defender Matt Clarke edging closer to a move from Portsmouth to Premier League Brighton and Hove Albion.

Clarke, 22, has been tipped for a switch to the Seagulls for some weeks but now the deal is understood to be near to completion, with Football Insider reporting that the clubs are close to agreeing a fee of £3.9 million.

Town are understood to be due 20 per cent of the profit Pompey make on Clarke, who is believed to have been valued at £50,000 when he joined them as a makeweight in the £750,000 deal which saw Adam Webster sign for the Blues in the summer of 2016.

That would see Town receive £770,000 at a time when the club is facing a £9 million loss of revenue due to relegation to League One.

Given the overall drop in income, the Clarke windfall is unlikely to see a change in the club’s transfer policy, which is all but certain to be based solely on Bosman free signings this summer.

Barham-born Clarke came through the academy and made one start and four sub appearances for the Blues before signing for Portsmouth, with whom he spent 2015/16 on loan.

Town could also receive further financial boosts via sell-ons this summer with Webster, currently with Bristol City, understood to be interesting Aston Villa, Leicester and Southampton and with a valuation of £12 million having been reported.

Webster, 24, joined the Robins from Town for an initial £3.5 million last summer with the fee potentially rising to £8 million.

The Blues are likely to have a sell-on of 10 per cent included in that deal which, depending on how many top-ups have been paid already, could bring in up to £850,000, although Portsmouth would be due 20 per cent of anything the Blues receive as a result of their sell-on from the 2016 move.

Meanwhile former left-back Tyrone Mings is expected to move on from AFC Bournemouth with his former loan club Aston Villa the favourites to sign him with a fee of £15 million - potentially yielding Town up to another £700,000 via a 10-per-cent-of-profit sell-on - having been widely reported.

Ex-striker Kieffer Moore, now with Barnsley, is also believed to be interesting Bristol City with a 10-per-cent-of-profit sell-on also understood to have been part of the deal which saw the 26-year-old move to Oakwell for £750,000 in January 2018.

Photo: Action Images

goat_man added 11:07 - Jun 19 This just screams of poor decision making by our managers. Both Clarke and Webster missed out on development and game time because we keep crow-barring Luke Chambers in ahead of them all the time, despite the fact they were/are better players. The same thing will happen to Wolfenden this season, who will leave, play really well for someone else and end up in the Prem, whilst we go nowhere.

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jas0999 added 17:24 - Jun 19 You would like to think ‘windfall' means just that. Unexpected income. You would also like to think the club had a financial plan in place for League One - it's been pretty much nailed on since Christmas. The fans have supported the club big time. It's now time for Evans to reward the loyalty by ploughing unexpected and non budgeted income into the playing squad. Give the manager every chance to gain promotion at first time of asking.

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