Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy insists David McGoldrick and Tyrone Mings remain fully focused after the club turned down big money bids for the pair on transfer deadline day, denying them the chance to step up to the Premier League.
It’s understood the Blues rejected more than £8m for striker McGoldrick, Leicester making several bids, while Crystal Palace offered £2.5m for young left-back Mings.
With the Blues preparing for back-to-back home games – Millwall at Portman Road this afternoon and Brighton the visitors on Tuesday evening – McCarthy said: “Each and every one of us would have had our heads turned – that’s me included. Let’s not kid ourselves.
“The lovely thing was that David McGoldrick was happy in the first place and didn’t want to leave. Somebody threw a spanner in the works, but he never said he wanted to go. He just let it all pan out and he’s been brilliant this week. He’s got his head around it and he’s cool.”
On his deadline discussions about Mings with new Palace boss Neil Warnock, McCarthy said: “He asked me about Ty, he’d heard good reports, but I just said ‘no, I don’t want to sell him’.
“They still managed to put an offer in, Marcus (Evans) asked me and I just said ‘no’. What was I going to do with shed load of money on deadline day at eleven o’clock?
“Whatever they were offering, he could end up being worth twice that. Come on, he’s six foot three, he’s good with the ball and he’s getting better in all aspects of his game.
“I don’t think he’s had the greatest start to the season actually, I think he’s played a bit safe. Maybe he wanted to stay in the side and not make any mistakes, but when you play like that you’re more likely to drop out.
“I won’t allow for any complacency from any of my players – not a chance. They’ll get a size 11 up the backside if that’s the case.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy admitted he would look to bring Palace’s Jonny Williams back to the Blues on loan.
He said: “The loan window is available to us for a while yet. I won’t take loan players and then not play them, that’s a recipe for disaster. The Premier League clubs want their loan players to play, obviously.
“I would have to say though, if anyone asks me the obvious question, if Jonny Williams became available then I probably would bring him in and play him, yes.”
– Follow @Stuart_Watson on Twitter for live match updates.
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