Ipswich Town’s star striker David McGoldrick looks set to make a big money move to newly-promoted Premier League outfit David McGoldrick after being left out of the squad for this afternoon’s match at Derby County.

It’s understood that Nigel Pearson made a £6.5m bid for the front man this week and is preparing an increased offer of around £8m before Monday’s 11pm transfer deadline.

McGoldrick, 26, scored 16 goals for the Blues last season before a medial knee ligament injury ended his campaign in mid-February. He returned to action in the latter stages of pre-season and scored in Town’s 2-1 win over Fulham on the opening weekend of the new Championship campaign.

The former Southampton and Nottingham Forest man said recently that he had become an Ipswich Town fan during his spell in the treatment room, but the chance to go to the Premier League – and return to his native East Midlands – is likely to be too good an opportunity for him to turn down.

He is currently in the final year of his contract, with a vague ‘option’ clause of extending it for another year. In the past, manager Mick McCarthy has not made it clear whether that option is the club’s or the player’s.

On Thursday, McCarthy said he hoped he did not receive any bids for his players but said the decision whether to sell or not would be owner Marcus Evans’. Centre-back Tommy Smith has also been linked with a £3m switch to Crystal Palace.

This summer saw Leeds United sell Ross McCormack (28 goals in the Championship last season) to Fulham for £11m and Brighton sell Leonardo Ulloa (16 goals in the Championship/FA Cup last season) to Leicester for £8m.

If McGoldrick does depart Portman Road, it would leave McCarthy’s already workmanlike and one-dimensional squad without their most dangerous and exciting player. During the summer left-back Aaron Cresswell – who was the club’s leading goal creator last season – was sold to Premier League club West Ham for an initial £3.75m and the team has lacked a creative spark during a four-game winless run.

McCarthy has put striker Frank Nouble on the transfer list and sent Paul Taylor out on loan to Rotherham. That leaves Daryl Murphy, Balint Bajner and Derby loanee Conor Sammon as striker options.

The window for permanent transfers closes at 11pm on Monday but the ‘emergency’ loan window – for 93-day deals – opens again a week later, while free agents can be added at any time.

When quizzed about his side’s lack of midfield goal threat and creative spark on Thursday, McCarthy said it was ‘too early to panic’ and that he must stay level-headed after ‘knee-jerk’ criticism in the wake of last weekend’s limp 1-0 home defeat to rivals Norwich City.

Blues owner Evans wrote in a column for the matchday programme recently that he was still very much committed to the club, while managing director Ian Milne insisted after the sale of Cresswell that all the money would be reinvested in the club.

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