Town keeper Bartosz Bialkowski’s move to Millwall is off due to a complication relating to the Polish international’s medical.

The 31-year-old travelled to South London to talk terms and undergo his medical on Thursday with the clubs having agreed a fee understood to be in the region of £1 million.

However, a complication emerged during the medical relating to Bialkowski’s knee which led the Lions to try to renegotiate the terms of the deal, something Town, believing the matter not to be a significant risk, were unwilling to do and they pulled the plug on the move.

“We agreed a substantial fee with Ipswich for Bart,” Millwall manager Neil Harris told The South London Press.

“Bart was in my office — paperwork was signed and agreed, terms were agreed with the player. He is fantastic character, a real nice lad.

“Everything was okay with Ipswich and there was a complication with the medical, which has led to complications with the deal. As we stand at the moment, the deal is off.”

Bialkowski, who underwent an ACL operation in February 2006 during his time with Southampton, has been a regular throughout his time with the Blues and before that with Notts County and has missed very few games due to injury in that time.

He has made 177 starts and one sub appearance for Town in the five seasons since signing from the Magpies on a free transfer in the summer of 2014.

The keeper was back at Playford Road for the start of pre-season training yesterday and was again present this morning.

Asked whether it was possible Bialkowski could still be with Town at the start of the season, prior to the news relating to his medical being made public, manager Paul Lambert said: “Absolutely, there’s a massive chance, a huge chance and I’ve never thought anything else, it never really worried me what was going on.

“We had a chat at the end of the season, he’s a good guy, no problem. He played fantastically well against Leeds, so I never had any problem with anything, so I never worried about it.

“Until somebody says to me there’s a massive amount of money or whatever it is [he’s a Town player].”

Quizzed on the situation as it stood at the end of the week with the move to Millwall apparently imminent, he added: “I just came back not that long ago and I had a chat with him yesterday. I know Millwall were interested and everything that’s gone on but other than that I don’t know.

“He’s our player, he’s training with us this morning, so unless he’s got a body double I’m sure it’s Bart that’s here.”

Lambert denied that Bialkowski moving on this summer is something of an inevitability.

"No, not really," he insisted. "You only move if the club lets you move. It doesn’t matter if you say he’s a player who wants to move, it doesn’t matter because the club has the hold.

"Bart’s been great, I had a chat with him yesterday, and he was fine, not a problem, he’s focused, and he’s our player, and if Bart or any player leaves here come the next few weeks, then they do their best for the football club and Bart falls into that category."

If Bialkowski does move on - via a revival of the Millwall deal or elsewhere - has the Blues boss got a target lined up to come in to compete with recent signing Tomas Holy for the number one shirt?

"No, because there’s no number one at the minute, you have to fight," Lambert added.

"Bart and Tomas have to fight together, and whoever plays the best they play.

"Anything could happen between now and the start of the season, someone could get injured, somebody might not be in good form, so you can’t guarantee anybody anything at the minute.

"Everyone is in the same boat, but as I said before I need everyone to go the same way and not have any favourites or any ones who are always going to play, everyone has to earn the right to play."

Photo: TWTD

dirtydingusmagee added 14:43 - Jun 25 Tractorboybig, as i understand it there will be no ''buying'' this year anyway, regardless of Bart staying or going, Just free's [though the term free is a bit misleading]
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dirtydingusmagee added 14:48 - Jun 25 I dont think Bart will be with us at start of season ,His mind needs to be right anyway, and possible moves ,will unsettle him.
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ArnieM added 15:12 - Jun 25 Expect Brum to come back in now with a reduced offer due “to medical issues”...which btw I think Millwall are using this old injury for some reason to opt out of the deal, or to try and knock the price down even further. We can't actually afford to keep Bart here. I think this is going to rumble on sadly. Not good for anyone.
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TractorCam added 15:18 - Jun 25 midastouch We were rejecting offers of £2.5 million this time last year, we've been relegated and this is the price we have to pay. He's way too good for league 1 so a 7 figure sum and a high earner off the books is a good thing, Holy should be able to step up.
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Facefacts added 15:23 - Jun 25 This out-in-the-open medical situation is bad for us, if we really do want to sell Bart. I can't see anyone else coming in for him with a sizeable fee, and this unfortunate experience will make him want to stay, even more than before. I think £1M or 900K was a good offer. Millwall have got cold feet about him, but with the right protection around the 6 yard box from their central defence, he would have kept them in the Championship. But they do need a huge kicker for their long ball game, so I'm sure they'll get a cheaper keeper in, and likely get relegated. In a way, Bart is probably better off staying, and this means Tomas Holy will be number 2 keeper. From the club's perspective, he shouldn't have been given such a good contract - meaning that a 'loss of form' at the beginning of last season led to Paul Hurst's jibe 'I can't believe you're the highest earner at the club'.

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runningout added 15:46 - Jun 25 if it's freebies, go for Dave Nugent. He'll do ok in league 1. Expect us to delay and delay again on bringing in needed signings. Do we have scouts anymore... Last season wasn't a blip! We still have those responsible at club. I hope they up for a just as tricky season, if not more difficult
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midastouch added 15:49 - Jun 25 @ TractorCam, our web toed cousins down the road don't keep selling their assets too cheap, so why do we? When they went down they invested in players like Hoolahan and went for it, 2 seasons later they were in the Prem. The number one rule of business is buy low sell high. Evans seems to specialise in buy high sell low! I don't pretend we can get 4 million or similar such as when Palace were in for Bart but 1 million seems low to me. Every penny counts in our situation, if we played hard ball with the likes of Pompey and Millwall I'm sure we could squeeze at least an extra 100k or 200k from these clubs if we stood firm.

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Bert added 15:50 - Jun 25 I would tell Millwall to stuff it. Sounds like Millwall have negotiated a deal with the same dishonesty Boris Johnson would.
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JewellintheTown added 16:00 - Jun 25 "Bart and Tomas have to fight together" :-0 I know we need the extra money, and everyone to chip in what they can, but that's a bit harsh, Lambert. Would be good one to watch though! Battle of the giants.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:21 - Jun 25 "A substantial fee"? I don't think so. The ball is now where it should be - in Millwall's court. I really like Bart, but I think it's a bit hard on Holy if Bart stays, as the former was probably expecting to become no. 1.
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midastouch added 16:31 - Jun 25 Correction to the above, Hoolahan signed for Norwich the season they went down but got injured apparently so barely featured that season. So he didn't really feature until their first season in League One where he worked wonders. Hopefully Judge can be like our version of Hoolahan this season! My Norwich mate just put me right on that one. Don't pretend to be an expert on Norwich but I prob know more about them than I'd like as I do live in their neck of the woods unfortunately!

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oldblue added 16:47 - Jun 25 I did say this at the end of last week..Bart failed medical..serious knee problem..but none of the experts on this site picked it up..too wrapped up in conjecture and ridiculous opinions.
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Bergholtblue added 17:16 - Jun 25 My guess is that Millwall didn't want to pay money up front but in installments based on appearances, etc. I bet this deal is not dead in the water.
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dirtydingusmagee added 17:20 - Jun 25 Steve ITFC Sweden, I dont think Holy was brought in to be number 1 keeper, .
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TractorCam added 17:38 - Jun 25 midastouch If you look at it the other way, we've stood firm at £1 million as opposed to lowering 900k.
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jas0999 added 18:18 - Jun 25 I just feel very sorry for Bart. You can understand him wanting to play in the championship next term. He was so close to achieving that. Also worry that unless we offset his wages, signing new additions may prove challenging.
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runningout added 18:56 - Jun 25 Bart worth a lot more than what Millwall we're paying. Knee is not a issue!
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midastouch added 18:56 - Jun 25 Fair point @ TractorCam. I guess 100k or 200k when weighed against getting his wages off the books (as they are probably in the region of 1 million a year on his new contract) means the club were keen to get the deal done. I remember when the club paid up Finidi George's contract up just to get rid. I was thinking we would be able to get something like 1.5 million for Bart (even though he didn't have the best of seasons - but surely all his fine previous seasons would means he still got some saleable credit in the bank) but the laws of supply and demand dictate these things and isn't as much demand as we hoped we might have our hands tied. I think Holy is worth giving a chance to see if he can make it as our number 1. Maybe somebody else might still come in for Bart. I wouldn't be surprised to see a vulture of some sort trying to pick him off on the cheap now! They might try and use the medical situation as leverage.

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Dissboyitfc added 19:22 - Jun 25 others have had pay cuts, is Bart's contract not subject to a cut also?
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midastouch added 20:10 - Jun 25 Good point @ Dissboyitfc. Does anybody know the definite answer to that one? I sure hope so as if he stays around (and hasn't had a wage cut of any sort) then anything approaching 1 million a season in wages will be a huge drain on our limited resources in League One.
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BrettenhamBlue added 00:02 - Jun 26 1 million was too cheap anyway, and they then had the audacity to try and buy him even cheaper! Hasn't Bart had a pay cut also? Oh, just saw dissboyitfcs post.
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Warkys_Tash added 11:57 - Jun 26 Good. £900k? Feels like a proper giveaway.
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