IPSWICH Town have accepted a £600,000 bid from Crystal Palace for striker Alan Lee.

Derek Davis

IPSWICH Town have accepted a £600,000 bid from Crystal Palace for striker Alan Lee.

Huddersfield and Preston have also tabled matching offers for Lee, but only Palace's has so far been accepted by the Blues.

Neil Warnock has been given permission to start personal talks with the 30-year-old but is also weighing up other options.

Warnock is believed to be in for three other strikers, with Plymouth's Jermaine Easter among them but he is furthest along the line with Lee.

The striker, bought from Cardiff City for £150,000, was among those criticised by Magilton after Saturday's 2-0 loss at home to Wolves as 'having outlived their stay' and Magilton has made it clear he would accept offers for him.

Town knocked back a £750,000 offer from Hull City last year but were keen for Burnley to firm up their interest in January.

The Town striker is reluctant to leave Portman Road after signing a new two-year deal, worth around £500,000 a year, last summer and does not want to leave his home on the Essex/Suffolk border, so if he did go to another club it is more likely to be in London.

Warnock wants Lee to add competition up front, and especially for James Scowcroft, but won't be held to ransom over terms, even if the bid accepted was lower than first thought would be tabled.

Town are desperate to clear the decks as new arrivals are scheduled.

German defender Moritz Volz is still in talks about a loan deal after knocking back the offer of a full time move from Fulham.

Volz had hoped for a move to another Premier League club or one in either France or Germany.

He has until Monday to decide as league clubs can no longer take players from the Premier League outside the transfer window.

It is the same situation with Shola Ameobi from Newcastle whose £2.5m transfer from Newcastle broke down after he failed a medical due to a hamstring injury but could arrive on loan.

derek.davis@eadt.co.uk