PAUL Jewell has all but given up on his hopes of signing Daryl Murphy on a permanent deal.

The Celtic man made 32 starts - and another two from the bench – during his season-long loan spell at Portman Road and Jewell had admitted he would like to sign the 29-year-old on a permanent deal if the price was right.

But Murphy’s wages, understood to be in excess of �10,000 a week, are a clear stumbling block and Jewell today revealed he was not expecting an agreement to be reached.

The Town manager said: “I don’t think Daryl will be back here next year.

“I spoke to him and his agent a few times and we would have liked to have kept him but he’s still got another year left on his contract at Celtic.

“We are grateful to Celtic for letting him come here but I think if we wanted to bring him here next season they would want a fee and you can understand that. He’s on decent wages as well. It’s a deal that is out of our price range.”

The only other option would be for Murphy to sign on loan for a third time – he was initially at Portman Road under Roy Keane – with Jewell admitting he would still look to sign one or two loan players next season.