At one stage it looked as though neither would wear the Ipswich Town shirt again.

Now Blues supporters can dream of seeing David McGoldrick and Jonny Williams play alongside each other.

Town owner Marcus Evans rejected two bids from Leicester City for star striker McGoldrick – believed to be £6.5m and £7m – in the lead up to last Monday’s transfer deadline.

And the Suffolk club ended that day holding preliminary discussions with Crystal Palace regarding the potential return of tricky attacking midfielder Williams – who quickly became a fans’ favourite during his brief loan spell at Portman Road towards the back end of last season.

Those talks could yet be resurrected, with the ‘emergency’ loan window having opened yesterday. Williams is hopeful he can force his way into new manager Neil Warnock’s plans at Selhurst Park, but a flurry of new arrivals – including Wilfried Zaha, Andrew Johnson, Kevin Doyle and James McArthur – could see the Eagles accept a loan fee for their rising star.

“He’s a special player, I’ve got to admit,” said McGoldrick, who was out injured throughout the duration of Williams’ loan spell earlier this year.

“It would have been nice to have played with him because the boy’s going straight to the top. You could see it in training and the games.

“He gets kicked from pillar to post, but he gets up and he goes again. He’s a great footballer.”

Williams – whose agent, former Colchester United striker Jamie Moralee, was once signed by Mick McCarthy at Millwall – said: “Neil Warnock has always tried to bring young players through and I remember him from when he was at Palace last time and I was 15.

“A lot of youngsters got their chance so I’m hoping that carries on. I signed a new four-and-a-half year deal in January and I hope I can stay at Palace.

“I’ve only met the manager once and he’s only seen me train once so I’ll probably know more once I’m back there and playing.”

Bolton, Watford and Fulham have all been linked with a loan move for Williams, with the latest reports from South London being that the Eagles will not allow the Welsh international to leave on a temporary basis until after their League Cup game against Newcastle on September 24.