IPSWICH Town manager Paul Jewell says Derby County counterpart Nigel Clough will have to lower his valuation of striker Steve Davies if the player is to make a switch to Portman Road.

Davies – now entering the final year of his contract – has put in a transfer request and made no secret of the fact that he wants to move nearer his London-based family.

The EADT and Ipswich Star understands that Clough has put a �1m price tag on his player, while Jewell is only willing to pay �500,000.

“Steve Davies is a player that I took to Derby and one that admire, but it all comes down to cost,” said Jewell.

“I’ve spoken to Nigel Clough over the summer about the fee and it’s far in excess of what we would want to pay. Don’t ask me what it is because that’s between the two clubs, but it’s too much and I haven’t got that amount of money.

“There’s not a bottomless pit of money so I’ve got to be prudent in the way I work.”

Meanwhile, the Blues boss revealed that he did make a bid for Doncaster Rovers defender George Friend – who is on the verge of making a �250,000 switch to Middlesbrough.

“Dean Saunders rang me and said that Middlesbrough and Forest had made a bid for him,” said Jewell.

“We did enquire after him, in fact we made a bid for him, but he’s going to Middlesbrough.”

Regarding left-back Aaron Cresswell, who was the subject of an enquiry from Aston Villa earlier this week, he added: “There’s no update from what I said on Wednesday. We’ve had no further contact from Aston Villa and we don’t encourage any.

“I don’t want this to become an issue.”

With the Blues boss still hopeful of signing French teenage triallist Cheick Kourouma – the club currently contacting a host of his former teams over possible compensation issues – Jewell said: “We need some players that’s for sure. We need some physicality in the team, we need some power.

“I’ve been frustrated in a number of attempts to bring people in this summer, but I’ll always carry on trying to improve this squad.”