Town are closing in on the loan signing of Barnsley winger Luke Thomas.

The 21-year-old has been on the Blues’ radar for a number of weeks but with the Championship Tykes now having given the OK for the former Derby and Cheltenham man, who has been in their matchday squad on a regular basis if not a starter, to depart.

Thomas, who has made eight starts and 14 sub appearances for the South Yorkshiremen this season, is expected to travel to Portman Road today to complete the formalities and the switch could be confirmed later in the day.

The Soudley-born wideman, who is left-footed but tends to operate on the right, was with West Brom as a schoolboy before moving on to Cheltenham with whom he made one senior sub appearance.

Thomas moved on to Derby County in 2016 and spent time on loan at Gloucester City and Coventry while a Rams player.

Although he made only two sub appearances for Derby, his form while on loan with the Sky Blues during 2018/19 persuaded Barnsley to pay £1.2 million for his services in the summer following that campaign.

In total, 5ft 6in tall Thomas has made 34 starts and 30 sub appearances for Barnsley, scoring twice.

Last month, Sunderland and Oxford United were reported to be among a number of League One clubs keen on making a move for the former England U20 international on a permanent basis.

Town expect to make Preston’s Josh Harrop their first signing of the January transfer window prior to finalising the Thomas deal with the 25-year-old having been at the club yesterday to undergo his medical and formalise his switch.

The League One salary cap is understood to have added to the red tape relating to a move, while the Blues will also be carefully scrutinising his medical results with Harrop having suffered cruciate ligament damage in October 2018.

Having turned 21 since New Year's Day 2020, Thomas doesn't count as a senior players with regards to the salary cap.

Photo: Action Images

dominiciawful added 11:41 - Jan 19 Lambert out.
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Suffolkboy added 11:48 - Jan 19 Could he be as good potentially as Ryan Fraser ? – must be of some talent at his height , so let's hope he's the physicality to be uncompromising and penetrative ! COYB
4

cornishblu added 11:49 - Jan 19 we need a goal scorer 2 goals in 64 apperances doesnt get us promoted ....how come lambert s the only person who cant see this
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BettyBlue added 11:54 - Jan 19 if these useless loan signings are going to make a difference why on earth didn't we spent the extra £10 and get them in at the beginning of the season? rubbish signing, lambert p*ss*ng in the wind while the club burns
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Len_Brennan added 11:57 - Jan 19 Harrop & Thomas both look like decent players who would be strong signings for any League 1 club, so it is a positive sign that we can still bring them to the club; the issue I have is that I believe it is the system & Lambert's style of play/direction that is stopping us from being a creative, attacking unit. He has had better attacking & creative players at his disposal over the last season & a half than almost all other League 1 managers and still our shots on goal stats are generally well below our opposition. I'll welcome any new signing & wish him well, but is Harrop going to suddenly do things that Bishop, Judge or Nolan couldn't do; or can Thomas make such a difference playing wide, in a way Edwards, Bennett, Lancaster,, Dobra or even Sears couldn't, that will suddenly make the system of play kick into gear. I just can't see it. Presumably 2 of Jackson, Sears, Huws, Nolan or Judge will be going out in order for these transfers to happen.

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billlm added 11:59 - Jan 19 I think you guys are to harsh, we need a spark, we have good players they just need some young fresh faces,give these two a chance, you never know,
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Len_Brennan added 12:02 - Jan 19 The main thing I'll be looking to from Harrop is his free kick & corner taking ability; we have been awful from dead balls this season and have really missed Luke Garbutt in that respect.
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Nazemariner added 12:02 - Jan 19 Both Harrop and Thomas look like they could be decent additions in L1. Desperately need either Norwood or Jackson to find their scoring boots though.
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chappie added 12:04 - Jan 19 Agree with billlm, too harsh. We've got to see this as positive, let's see what difference fresh faces who want to impress make to the rest of the team. Sometimes it's just something to catalyse change, and the ripple effect can be powerful
3

Cheshire_Blue added 12:13 - Jan 19 Too harsh and too NEGATIVE.
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runningout added 12:15 - Jan 19 Always good plan to bring in more than one new signing! Every player has his club he excels at. Hope Barnsley and Preston's temporally loss is our gain
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BeattiesBackPocket added 12:36 - Jan 19 Suffolkboy let's not compare the lad to Ryan Fraser Christ he's not been even on the same trajectory as him he's gone on improved and moved up to bigger clubs this lad has stagnated! However people doom mongering these new guys before they've even kicked a ball is premature to say the least someones rubbish is another mans gold and all that. At this level they could be awesome and let's face it now we're in this league for the foreseeable future these are the type of players we're going to have to unearth now.

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terryf added 12:39 - Jan 19 Whilst I agree with Len about the style of play I also think we need some new impetus in the Squad so these two signings could be just what we need to push on for the second half of the season. Both Judge and Sears run around a lot but there's just no end product and their crossing ability is dismal.
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GatesPerm added 12:42 - Jan 19 My issue with the 4-3-3 is not that I am implacably opposed to it, it's that even with a fit Edwards we don't have the current resources to make it work. With these two additions we should have two decent wide men and a number 10 that should make the formation more creative and dangerous. Give a fit Norwood decent service and he will score goals or create opportunities for others. Add a fit KVY bombing forward from right back as well and the world should look a much brighter place.

6

algarvefan added 12:44 - Jan 19 I agree with other posters, I don't think these 2 potential signings are much better than the players we already have, it's the way we are playing that's the problem. We are so negative going forward, often passing the ball around our own half for ages whilst the opposition sit back and wait to pounce on the inevitable mistake. The players are clearly uncomfortable playing this system and/or some don't have the ability. One up front isn't working. We are in Division One and we need to play the type of football that will get us out of this league, not some complicated Lambert German system!!

0

unknown100 added 12:46 - Jan 19 It's nice to be getting some players who have contributed to their team this year rather than not play all season, hopefully they are hungry to play, be good to have some debut players for the next 2 games Does anyone else think they might terminate Bennett's loan?
1

midlandblue54 added 12:53 - Jan 19 We could sign messi & ronaldo but under this useless clueless manager they would do noting. LAMBERT JUST GO YOu CLOWN !
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MonkeyAlan added 13:05 - Jan 19 Another giant at 5ft 6 then? Just what we need another lightweight. We need some brutes who can mix it up a bit. Never thought ld see the day when we would have to loan players from the likes of Barnsley. Evans you muppet.
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Linkboy13 added 13:09 - Jan 19 Whether these two lads are the answer i don't know. But despite what people are saying this squad over a period of time has proved it not strong enough. Its not a coincidence that when we play the better teams we struggle to compete physically and get over run in midfield because we are so poor when we haven't got the ball.
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tractorboybig added 13:11 - Jan 19 could bring in ten nobodies and lambert would still cock it up
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Surco72 added 13:24 - Jan 19 I hope these signings don't mean we are looking to lose Edwards for a fee ? Don't overly think these two will make much of a difference if they play at all , what we need now and have for 6 years is a nasty hard ball winning midfielder who dominates games and protects the back four . We have been too nice , too weak and too laid back for so long which is why we cannot compete with the better sides

2

Bert added 13:35 - Jan 19 I think Bettyblue has stopped taking the medication. Historically, the club has had until the last decade, decent marauding wingers to add a threat to opposition defences. As long as this loan signing does not allow Edwards to depart, I am happy.
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TimmyH added 14:00 - Jan 19 Don't know a lot about either player other than they don't look like goal scorers so I'll reserve judgement until I see what they do on the pitch...we've had many a loanee over recent years (not so much last season that has done diddly squit). But wish them both well while here.
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BarbelBoy added 14:08 - Jan 19 I find the two prospective loan signings rather curious. Both appear to have "potential" but neither has nailed down a permanent place at what are two fairly modest clubs and both have had several loan spells at lower league clubs such as ours. It's also fair to ask why we need to strengthen in the mid field when we already have so many similar players. However, and I accept that this may be an overly optimistic take on the situation, I wonder whether it might signal a possible change in our tactics ? PL has made it clear that he thinks we are hopeless at playing two up top. That's obviously based on his assessment of the players he currently has at his disposal. Maybe he feels that Harrop and Thomas can be part of an effective four in midfield and so allow him to play two up front ? I know that many fans feel we should be playing a 4 4 2 formation but I'm not really convinced that our current squad actually offers the required attributes. If we play three in the middle then my choice would be Downes, Dozell and Bishop but if you try to accommodate them in a four man mid field it means that at least one if not two of them have to play out wide and none of them seem very suited to that in my opinion. So, maybe PL thinks that with Thomas playing wide left and Harrop pushing forward from the centre as a box to box option we can use say Downes and Bishop as the other two in the middle and then have the option of two men up front ? Then again what do I know about tactics !

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dirtydingusmagee added 14:20 - Jan 19 people saying they arent any better than players we have ! ,but i doubt if any of them really know anything about them and have not seen them playing. Its time people realise we are now a ''little club'' thanks to Evans, and we are unlikely to get the stamp of player they crave for. I just hope they are fit and get to play the way thats suits them, not used as misfits.

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