Town target George Hirst is reportedly set to sign a new deal with current club Leicester City before being sent out on loan to a Championship club.

TWTD revealed in May that striker Hirst was being targeted by the Blues with discussions between the clubs having been ongoing throughout the summer.

Portsmouth were keen to take the 23-year-old on another loan, Hirst having spent 2021/22 at Fratton Park, while Championship sides believed to include Blackpool and Blackburn are also understood to be keen.

Now, the Portsmouth News is reporting that Hirst, who has a year left on his current deal, is to sign a new contract with the Foxes with the plan then that he is loaned to a Championship side for 2022/23.

Reports elsewhere over the last couple of days have also indicated that Hirst is set to be offered a new deal.

However, TWTD understands Town remain interested in signing the former England U17s, U18s and U19s international on a permanent basis, but with other strikers also on their list of potential recruits prior to the September 1st deadline.

Hirst, the son of former Sheffield Wednesday and England frontman David, started his career with the Owls before joining Belgian second division side OH Leuven in June 2018, then a year later moved on to Leicester.

Since signing for the Foxes the 6ft 3in tall frontman, who played alongside Andre Dozzell, Flynn Downes, Tristan Nydam and Nick Hayes with the Young Lions, has made only two sub appearances, spending time on loan at Rotherham in 2020/21, failing to score in four starts and 28 appearances from the bench, before last season’s spell at Pompey in which he netted 15 times, all after the start of November.

Photo: Reuters

cressi added 12:47 - Aug 16 Let him go elsewhere Get somebody who wants to be here , Not done enough career wise to break the bank
20

Cookiscooking added 12:50 - Aug 16 he would fit in so nicely with our team. Not sure how much hes valued at but i think we should dip in the bank, also hes only gonna go up in value so lets get him if possible..
1

billlm added 12:53 - Aug 16 Please move on, if he wanted to be here he would have been here by now,
8

Stato added 12:54 - Aug 16 It's Celina all over again. Move on to another target and use the money saved on Celina to improve the available budget for the number 9 position.
10

cressi added 12:56 - Aug 16 Cookiscooking Why will he go up in value A season like he had at Rotherham and his value will plummet Just a unknown quantity to be fair
5

bluesteal74 added 13:02 - Aug 16 I think we need to move on if we have other target's
5

herfie added 13:07 - Aug 16 Possible mind games to force our hand to offer more money. An inevitable - if unwelcome - reality of today's transfer environment. Pretty sure MA will not be sucked in to a not so subtle tactic, and move swiftly on. There will be other targets, not least from outside the UK goldfish bowl! Anyway, if we can continue scoring goals throughout the team then the need to recruit may not be as pressing. COYB!

4

IpswichRising added 13:14 - Aug 16 Hirst is obviously more interested in money than having a career in football, it is surely obvious to everyone that Leicester are not going to play him and just trying to increase his sale value, I have never liked Leicester anyway, horrible club with a horrible manager. Move on now and get somebody in who wants to play for Ipswich
-7

BlueBlood90 added 13:16 - Aug 16 Time to move on from this one. I hope we have a solid back up plan in mind and we didn't put all our eggs in one basket. As good a start as we've made it's pretty obvious that we could still really benefit from adding a top striker.
2

Class_of_81 added 13:22 - Aug 16 I'd still take Macca Bonne over him. Until Macca had some personal issues around Xmas he was everyone's cup of tea. He loves the town and for me is not just a goal scorer but a clever hard working player. Remember he “IS” one of our own, and not just here for the money.
9

Suffolkboy added 13:29 - Aug 16 KM will have a plan ,and know ‘his ‘ man ‘or men ; we can be certain there is a First , and Second ( maybe even a Third ) line of approach to fulfil any and all of ITFC requirements . COYB
0

runningout added 13:47 - Aug 16 seems like a case of “if Ipswich think he is a decent player” Maybe we should hang to him for a bit.
0

hyperbrit added 13:52 - Aug 16 his personal issues were that he couldn't beat the offside trap and missed "sitters" consistently. Haven't heard about anything else until now so please explain..
2

hyperbrit added 13:53 - Aug 16 Bonne I meant...sorry.
0

Europablue added 13:59 - Aug 16 cressi I don't know how much it is down to him wanting to come or not. Ultimately it's up to Leicester, and from their point of view it would be good from their player to step up to the Championship rather than come to us. If I were him I'd rather break into the Leicester team than move to Ipswich. Why would anyone but an Ipswich fan be desperate to play for us?
-2

hyperbrit added 14:10 - Aug 16 Leicester is skint and will take the best offer imo..it's not rocket science.Town is in a much better bargaining position than it was a year ago based on the results so far. Beat Bolton and their stock goes up another click or two.
1

jas0999 added 14:21 - Aug 16 Agree we need another striker, preferably on a permanent basis rather than a loan. But, the Hirst saga is just that. Hopefully we have other targets in mind which can be worked now, rather than waste time on Hirst.
2

Europablue added 14:24 - Aug 16 jas0999 To be fair, keeping an eye on potential targets throughout the window does not necessarily mean that we are pinning all our hope on the deal coming off.
0

Rimsy added 14:26 - Aug 16 No different than any club would. Tie their asset down on a contract to maximise his worth to interested parties. Makes no difference to whether he will be sold or not. If we were interested, no reason why that's not still the case.
1

pennblue added 14:29 - Aug 16 Tricky one, normally I would say walk away, however, we do have a few strikers over the years we have not got over the line and lived to regret it. Yes it is annoying he has not just signed, but good players have lots of options. It is understandable he would want to stay with Leicester and go to a Championship club. However, it is down to Ashton + McK to ensure the vision is sold as well as possible. I personally think he could do with another year in League One, but what do I know, bulk out some more and get another season under his belt.

1

ArnieM added 14:32 - Aug 16 Suspect he'll end up at a championship club which is probs where he was always bound to end up. Which beggars the question, why have we retained an interest in him the whole window when we could have got someone else in, and who would have been well on the way to “ bedding in”?
2

Nobbysnuts added 14:34 - Aug 16 Don't get the hype over this guy or is it just because of his dad??? Not exactly a proven goal scorer at any level.....
4

FrankMarshall added 14:48 - Aug 16 Bonne would be a good option. Just needs to be reminded about the offside rule!
2

dirtydingusmagee added 14:55 - Aug 16 oh well Part 2.
0

Europablue added 14:55 - Aug 16 ArnieM The question is, who has been available and been passed up by Town? I don't think with MA in charge we are putting all our eggs in one basket. As soon as another quality player who fits our system becomes available at the right price, I'm sure we would be in for him. There is a natural time at the begining of the transfer window when free agents are available, and we did really well there, then there's a quiet part in the middle where not much is going on, then especially for players at PL clubs, they will be thinking of their 25 man squad and who will stay. That squad often changes depending on incomings and outgoings, so there isn't much incentive to sell low-value players early in the window.

1

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls