Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy will have to sacrifice up to £1 million in wages if he wants to become Republic of Ireland manager again.

According to reports in Ireland this morning, the FAI have a strict budget of 1.2 million Euros (£1m) per year to pay for Giovanni Trapattoni’s replacement.

Any compensation payment would have to come out of that pot though, meaning a four-and-a-half year deal worth £4.5m could suddenly be greatly reduced in McCarthy’s case.

The precise amount Ipswich would demand remains unclear, but – with 20 months left on McCarthy’s contract – the FAI are likely to be looking at a pay out somewhere in the region of £500,000 to £1m.

With number one target Martin O’Neill continuing to drag his heels, McCarthy – who has refused to rule himself out of the running for a return to his former international job – has become the front runner to fill the vacancy.

It’s understood that, with a more than a month having passed since Trapattoni’s departure, the FAI want to appoint their man by the end of the month, and that McCarthy is the choice of several Irish players.

Whether he actually wants the job, or just feels he should be asked, remains unclear following some cryptic comments in a press conference prior to Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Burnley.

The out-of-work Guus Hiddink is also understood to be high on a list of candidates, with the FAI having previous form in terms of lining up one man (Terry Venables) and then going for someone else (Trapattoni) at the last minute.