IPSWICH Town manager Paul Jewell has assured supporters that new signing Michael Chopra will prove worth the wait, triumphantly claiming ‘we’ve got the one they all wanted’.

Roy Keane, having brought Chopra to Sunderland from Cardiff for �5m in 2007, spent the whole of last summer trying – and failing – to repeat the capture at Portman Road.

And his successor Jewell has revealed it took hours of phone negotiations during his recent holiday in Spain to finally get the proven goalscorer to the Suffolk club.

“Allegedly I’ve been away twice but it doesn’t feel like that!” said Jewell, who also met Icelandic defender Ivar Ingimarsson at a location midway between their respective holiday destinations to close that deal.

“You’re always on the phone walking around the pool and everyone is looking at you shaking their heads.

“In the end the missus just gave up and said ‘let’s go home’. In this game you never get a break, you’re always working.”

He continued: “He (Chopra) is one I think any Championship manager would like to have in their team though, so as soon as we knew he was available I moved very quickly.

“Although it took a bit of time to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, I’m sure it will be well worth the hard work that was put into it.”

The Newcastle-born forward arrives at Ipswich with a ready-made chant for the supporters.

Cardiff fans have been tweeting in disappointment over the last few days that they will no longer be able to sing ‘What’s that coming over the hill, it’s Michael Chopra, it’s Michael Chopra!’ (sung to the tune of Cardiff-based band The Automatic’s 2005 hit ‘Monster’).

Meanwhile, Jewell, who insists he neither wants nor needs to sell teen star Connor Wickham, says he still wants to add another striker to his squad.

The Liverpudlian – who is targeting up to another five signings altogether this summer – revealed yesterday that an offer has already been made to an unnamed forward.