Championship club Birmingham City are reportedly in talks with Ipswich Town about a £2.5m deal for striker Kayden Jackson.

Respected freelance journalist Pete O’Rourke, formerly of Sky Sports, shared the news via Twitter this lunchtime.

Jackson has seen contract talks stall over the last few months and now enters the final year of his deal at Portman Road – though the do Blues do have the option to extend that by a further 12 months.

Town rejected a bid somewhere between £1-2m for the front man from Championship club Bournemouth last week.

Blues boss Paul Lambert said: “I found out that we’d had a bid after the game (against Arsenal’s U21) on Tuesday night, but I don’t think it was up to Marcus’ valuation.

“That might transpire, I don’t know. That’s up to Bournemouth what they want to do.

“I spoke to Kayden the other day and he was really good, really professional about it all. There’s no problem there.”

Jackson was brought to Portman Road by Paul Hurst in the summer of 2018 in a £1.6m deal from League Two club Accrington Stanley. He struggled in the Championship, often as a lone striker, but then came to the fore in League One last season, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists as part of a front two.

However, Lambert has now made it clear that he will only be playing one striker in a 4-3-3 system this season.

Speaking to the EADT and Ipswich Star just before the new season started, the Blues boss said: “James Norwood is a goalscorer, Kayden Jackson, everyone knows about his speed, Oli Hawkins has come in and been a breath of fresh air, he gives us another option, while Aaron Drinan has really taken a chance that he perhaps didn’t expect to get.

“James and Kayden are both lads who have done well, but they both know that only one striker can play now. It’s a case of the best man gets the jersey.

“They might think ‘I don’t want to be here if I’m not going to play’, and I can’t stop anyone wanting to leave, but players will only leave the club on our terms.

“I would hope that they’ll be thinking ‘I’m going to fight for my place’ and will thrive on the competition. Hopefully those guys are up for the fight. If that happens, it will be healthy.”

Jackson is currently out of action with a groin injury.

Speaking earlier today, Blues assistant boss Stuart Taylor said: “Kayden is progressing along fine. He’s been on the grass for a couple of days now and can hopefully be involved in training over the next day or two.”