Ipswich Town almost sold star keeper Bartosz Bilakowski to Burnley in the summer, he has revealed.

The Polish stopper, probably Town’s biggest asset, revealed that the Clarets tried to lure him to Turf Moor but the two clubs failed to reach an agreement.

He told TVP Sport: “It was really close but the clubs couldn’t come to an agreement. On one hand I still dream about playing in the top division.

“On the other hand I have no regrets as I feel really good at Ipswich. Maybe we’ll win promotion this year. It would be the best scenario of all.

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“As for my age, I am planning on playing for a few more years still. I feel good and I hope to continue my career while I’m fit and healthy. I still love football and enjoy playing.”

Speaking exclusively to the EADT and Star before the season kicked off, he said: “There is some speculation, there is some interest, but there are no firm offers.

“It’s hard for me to talk about it because I’m not sure how I’m going to react to that if someone comes in and offers silly money to Ipswich. Only then could we start to talk about it.

“You get calls all the time from other agents saying ‘I can get you that and I can get you this’. I’ve been in this situation before when I was younger and all the papers were talking about me and about top clubs.

“I learnt my lesson. I’m grounded. I’ve still got a contract at Ipswich (2018, with option until 2019). If anything happens then Ipswich have got to say ‘yes, we want to sell Bart’ and then we will see.

“You just never know what’s around the corner. Everyone wants to play at the highest level possible. I’m the same, but I’m not forcing anything. I’m not in the gaffer’s office every week saying ‘I want to go, I want to leave’ because it’s not like that.”

Of being settled in Suffolk, he told us: “They (his family) love it here, they absolutely love it. They want to stay here forever. Fair play to them. To be fair, if I stay here forever I’ll be happy.”

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Asked by TVP Sport whether promotion is in Town’s reach, he said: “I hope so. We didn’t make spectacular transfers but some of the lads we’ve got are the leading players in the league.

“We’ve played really well so far. We beat Sunderland 5-2 recently. This town misses Premier League football a lot. Ipswich used to play in the top division for quite a while and with some success. The current squad would like to be part of the club’s successful history too.”