Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy is adamant that much-sought-after left-back Tyrone Mings is going nowhere in the January transfer window,

Mings, 21, was McCarthy’s first signing at Ipswich, recruited for just £10,000 from non-league club Chippenham Town. His improvement has been so rapid that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger recently made public his interest in the athletic defender, with figures of £10m being speculated.

Stoke City became the latest Premier League club to be linked this week, one national paper reporting that Mark Hughes was pondering a £4m bid.

On several occasions McCarthy has made it clear that owner Marcus Evans would not be selling any key players this month as the Blues look to maintain their Championship promotion push.

Today, when quizzed about the Stoke speculation, he sarcastically quipped: “Yeah, I’ve just been on the phone arranging to sell him!”

He continued: “They haven’t got enough money. Well, they might have enough money but they wouldn’t be prepared to pay it.

“He’s not going anywhere. You might as well hear that from me. He’s not.

“He’s a really good player and he’s not going anywhere. He might as well hear that as well. That’s always the case, they think ‘is it going to happen, isn’t it going to happen?’

“Why would he not want to try and get promoted with us? We’re in a really good position.”