IT is looking more and more likely that Connor Wickham, the talk of Ipswich Town, will be playing in the Premier League next season.

IT is looking more and more likely that Connor Wickham, the talk of Ipswich Town, will be playing in the Premier League next season.

There is a clause in his current contract that will be triggered if a top flight club matches a certain figure.

And if he keeps producing the type of performances that yielded a hat-trick at Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night, then the offers will surely continue to flood in, with London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal leading the chase.

The benchmark figure of �10m looks sure to be exceeded over the coming months.

Town boss Paul Jewell, predictably, was asked a host of questions about man-of-the-moment Wickham during today’s Portman Road press conference.

Attacker Wickham celebrated the first hat-trick of his career in the 6-0 demolition of Doncaster in midweek, and he will be in the hunt for more goals against visiting Hull City tomorrow.

Even though the England Under-21 international has plundered five goals in his last five outings, and is attracting interest from a bevy of Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle, Jewell insisted that his teenage hot property still has much to learn,

“Connor can go all the way, but he has a long way to go,” insisted Jewell.

“He’s got a bright future, so long as he stays clear of injury and keeps doing what he is doing. But he has a lot to learn.

“If an offer comes in for any player and it doesn’t suit us, we won’t sell them. I haven’t come here to sell players and hopefully Connor can progress with us and we can keep hold of him.”