Michael Chopra glad to be at a club ‘where he is wanted’

Michael Chopra says he is pleased to have joined a club ‘where he is wanted’ following his transfer from Ipswich to Blackpool.

The 29-year-old was transfer-listed by manager Mick McCarthy following two seasons overshadowed by off-field problems.

For a while it looked as though the Blues’ top-earner – understood to have been on £18,000-a-week – would dig his heels in and see out the final year of his deal.

However, after being marginalised in pre-season and relegated from squad number 10 to 28, he signed a one-year deal at Bloomfield Road.

“This is a fresh start for me,” he told the Blackpool Gazette. “I’m at a club here where I’m wanted.

“I’m just pleased to be here and happy to be given the chance to play football again.

“When I was playing at Ipswich there were some fans who would criticise me and didn’t want me to be at the football club.

“When I run out here at Blackpool I know all the fans will be behind me.

“That is the most important thing for me. “When I’m happy, you’ll see it in the games.”

Chopra – who held talks with Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday before Paul Ince came calling – said: “I had the chance to come on loan last season, everything was all in place, then I scored against Blackpool and it put everything off.

“But I’ve been in talks with the owner for a while now and it was just a case of getting it all done.

“I was on my way to Barnsley to complete a medical and I got a phone call asking me to come here instead – I jumped at the chance.

“There were other clubs in for me, it was just a case of me seeing where I wanted to go and where I would be happy.

“I’ll be able to bring my (Newcastle-based) family to the area, which will be nice. When I was at Ipswich my family couldn’t really come down as it was so far away.

“That will really help me as a player as I’ll have my family around me.”

He continued: “I believe I have a bright future here.

“Once I got told my Ipswich I wasn’t needed it was just a case of trying to find a club which really wanted me.

“I wanted to find the right club for me. The expectations of this football club is high, and that’s what I want.

“I want to try and get back into the Premier League.

“Ipswich have signed a lot of new players, so the manager had his own plans. When you’re not in the manager’s plans you just have to stick it out.”