TWTD understands former Blues loanee Bersant Celina is close to joining Turkish side Kasımpaşa on loan from parent club Dijon with an option to buy.

Town have been in talks with Celina, who could complete his move to the Istanbul-based Süper Lig club as soon as today, regarding his return to Portman Road for a third spell - also a loan with a view to a permanent switch - for much of the summer with the player understood to be keen on the switch but with no agreement reached.

The Blues signed Marcus Harness, who can operate in similar roles to Celina, on Friday and although it was believed Town were still keen on the Kosovan international, it’s understood no further contact was made following the addition of the former Pompey attacker.

As revealed last week, Stoke looked to be the 25-year-old’s destination until his work permit situation caused the proposed switch to collapse.

In addition to Kasımpaşa, another Turkish club Antalyaspor also held talks and earlier in the summer Preston were keen but their interest is understood to have cooled and would anyway have been impacted by the work permit issue.

Dijon remain in French Ligue 2 and have needed Celina, who has another two years left on his contract, off their wage bill for the season ahead with the one-time Swansea man not having joined them for the start of pre-season.

Celina spent last season on loan at Town having previously been with the Blues during 2017/18 while a Manchester City player and is very much a fans' favourite at Portman Road.

Photo: Matchday Images

BlueDouglas added 11:00 - Jul 19 B*gger
1

boroughblue added 11:03 - Jul 19 Whilst it's a bit of a shame and it will be sad to see him sign for someone else, it's not the absolute end of the world and I'm sure KMC et al will find someone of similar ability which makes more financial sense for the club. Also partially looking forward to this saga being over, the on again off again of it all summer has become a bit exhausting ngl. So not the outcome I'm sure we wanted, but I'm glad it's done (unless there's another weird turn).

12

BlueBlood90 added 11:04 - Jul 19 Big shame. I've been relatively happy with our business so far but I think Celina really would've been the icing on the cake. We need to go all out and get the striker McKenna wants now.
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ITFC_Jenx added 11:05 - Jul 19 Does he need a work permit for Turkey?
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Bobbychase added 11:07 - Jul 19 Nothing club in a very poor league. Could have been part of something exciting with us. Good luck to him
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Bluearmy_81 added 11:09 - Jul 19 I like Celina, he's class but I'm not too disappointed. We've done well getting Harness in and have great option for the no 10 'hole.' We do still need another quality striker imho to ensure promotion though. Have a sneaking feeling McKenna may wait till January to see how the land lies though...
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micky_1560 added 11:10 - Jul 19 ITFC_Jenx - No, he doesn't require a work permit for Turkey. He also didn't require one for Ipswich as his current work permit allows him to play, but he does for any other English club.
4

gosblue added 11:11 - Jul 19 All the very best Santi. You'll always be one of ours. I think we have, not better targets but ones better suited to our immediate needs. We could still be in for him as a championship club at the end of the season. Fingers crossed 🤞
6

Ipswichbusiness added 11:12 - Jul 19 That's a shame as I would have loved him to re-sign for us, subject to money (I wouldn't want to blow the entire transfer budget on him!).
3

micky_1560 added 11:13 - Jul 19 Great skill and can make things happen when defences are well organised, but does tend to be out of the play quite a lot, so happy to see how the McKenna squad handles league 1 this season.
2

MickMillsTash added 11:14 - Jul 19 If he WAS being paid 20K/week last year not sure it represented value for money- But we need players like him to unpick the parked, time wasting, DIV 3 buses that will be heading to Portman road this year. Goalkeepers getting Cramp prediction - 12
5

Bazza8564 added 11:14 - Jul 19 I think the club will have made the decision to pass on this one. Aluko still looks good, Chaplin and Harness play that role too and Jackson and JJ will also be competing for those two floating roles. Focus now has to turn to a top striker to share that load with Freddie and give is that undeniable strength in depth from the bench. I keep saying this, but 5 subs is a massive opportunity for ITFC with our depth.

11

VPHC added 11:15 - Jul 19 Can't believe he's going to a team who last season's average attendance was under 2K. I know it's Turkey's top division and he'll be playing against some big teams, but really...
6

Marcus added 11:24 - Jul 19 I believe the issue is that we could sign him on loan but not a permanent transfer due to conditions of his work permit. Essentially continuation of the permit would be allowed but a renewal would mean needing to meet the same requirements that collapsed his move to Stoke.
0

Paulc added 11:27 - Jul 19 I think if Town really wanted him, he'd be here by now. First Stoke and now this one, suggests either we're not prepared to meet the demands of mustard, or we don't want to publicly admit we're looking elsewhere.
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TractorCam added 11:30 - Jul 19 VPHC ultimately it's not all about that, he will be earning decent money and in a better league. He wanted to come here yes but it doesn't mean he should totally lower his standards and bow down to whatever we were offering if he's getting a better deal elsewhere. Just have to wish him well and move on.
1

Suffolkboy added 11:34 - Jul 19 Obviously an attractive player on the pitch at times – but overall an inconsistent performer who only had moments of ‘brilliance' ,and seemed to lack the drive for consistency . I feel sure K M will have pretty well all options covered , and ITFC confidence shouldn't be dented because BC has gone elsewhere . COYB
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PortmanTerrorist added 11:37 - Jul 19 Santi is class, but just did not feel his skills were suited to League 1 last year; just felt there was a better version of him in there which might require us to be in a higher league to see. This is clearly a stop-gap solution to manage his wages by his parent club, so hopefully we can secure the striker we still need for this season and have a case to make to Santi next season (or even in Jan as we have all seen these Turkish deals collapse before) and give him a proper home rather than another loan some time soon. It ain't over yet me thinks !

8

trncbluearmy added 11:37 - Jul 19 This team play at the Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan Stadium,the same Turkish leader who right at this moment is meeting with putin Given his public support for Ukraine I wonder if has any thoughts on that and how is wages are likely financed?
2

Cloddyseedbed added 11:38 - Jul 19 Good luck to him, playing in Turkey in front of small crowds. Was his input overall, worth what we paid him? I think not. Great to see occasional flashes of immense skill but contributed no where near enough to get us out of this god awful league. A league where timewasting tactics and teams where they have no intension of playing football are common. I think ITFC have got it right, on slightly more robust players being signed, who are buying in to the club is going places attitude. Looking forward to the season starting. COYB's.

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blues1 added 11:40 - Jul 19 Tractorcam. He'll be getting exactly the same money in Turkey as he would have here bcse it's a loan. The only difference is likely to be the amount the Turkish club are going to be paying of his wages. This was clearly the sticking point for us, as I'd imagine dijon wanted us to pay a larger percentage this time. Something we couldn't afford to go to.
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DJR added 11:44 - Jul 19 Is it significant that the EADT haven't picked up on this news yet, given that they didn't run with the Stoke story?
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blues1 added 11:44 - Jul 19 Bluearmy81. Totally agree with you. Think Harness is actually a better option as belive he'll work harder than celina would. As well as offering similar traits on the ball. Would have been nice to have got him as well maybe but like you, I'm not really disappointed.
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DJR added 11:53 - Jul 19 The EADT are now running with the story too. I'm not too disappointed as I think Harness looks a better and more athletic replacement at this level, probably fits better with McK's system, and is also fairly versatile.
2

ArnieM added 11:55 - Jul 19 Ah, not quite so keen to rejoin Town after all then. First Stoke, then this Turkish Club. Good luck Beasent…. Not to be it seems.
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