IPSWICH Town manager Paul Jewell would hold all the aces should he start a game of transfer poker with Sheffield United over striker Ched Evans.

The Blues boss is due to hear today whether a bid for a mystery striker has been successful. If it hasn’t, then he could well move for Welsh international Evans – someone he has admitted is ‘on his list’ and who could prove the perfect foil to goal machine Michael Chopra.

Should that happen then negotiations are unlikely to be quick.

Blades boss Danny Wilson will be keen to recoup as much of the �3m the club spent on landing the 6ft target man from Manchester City two years ago as possible.

And his board will undoubtedly try and play hard ball with Ipswich, a club seen by the wider football world as flush with cash following their �8.1m summer sale of Connor Wickham to Sunderland.

Ultimately though it is Jewell with the stronger hand. And should he maintain his poker face then he might very well land his man at a bargain price.

The fact is, Sheffield United – relegated to League One for the first time in over 20 years – simply cannot afford to go into the new season with the 22-year-old on their wage bill. The club’s highest earner by a long distance, we understand his earnings are nearer �20,000-a-week as supposed to the widely reported figure of �15,000.

He was left behind in England while his team mates were on a pre-season trip to Malta this week – the official reason being an ankle injury. All the while Jewell has been weighing up whether to move for a player who once enjoyed a highly successful loan spell at Norwich City and even scored for the Canaries in an East Anglian derby at Portman Road.

Wilson may yet attempt to use the fact that Championship duo Leicester and Middlesbrough have also made enquiries about Evans this summer as a bargaining chip. However, the Evening Star understands their interest is waning and that the Blues would be in the driving seat.

– Do you think Evans would be a good signing for Ipswich? E-mail: starsport@eveningstar.co.uk.