THE deal to bring Cesar Navas to Ipswich Town before Friday is on the verge of collapse.The Malaga defender is stalling over personal terms and even though negotiations are still continuing it appears the two parties have reached an impasse.

By Derek Davis

THE deal to bring Cesar Navas to Ipswich Town before Friday is on the verge of collapse.

The Malaga defender is stalling over personal terms and even though negotiations are still continuing it appears the two parties have reached an impasse.

The Blues have agreed a fee with the Spanish Second Division side to take the former Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund centre-half in a deal that would eventually cost around £200,000.

The sticking-point now is wages and length of contract for the 27-year-old, who is still out injured with a broken foot.

The 6ft 4is defender is not likely to be fit to play until October at the earliest but Town are keen to bring him to Portman Road before the transfer window closes on Friday.

If an agreement cannot be reached before then Navas would not be allowed to play for the Blues until January, even if he joined before.

Malaga, who are in a Spanish version of administration, are keen to off-load the player who is on La Liga wages and was shipped out on loan to Gimnastic last season and may put pressure on him to accept Town's offer of around £5,000 a week and a three-year contract.

Magilton has banked on getting Navas and is unlikely to bring in another centre-half even on loan until he knows for sure he won't be getting him.

Although Fabian Wilnis has two more games of his suspension to serve, Chris Casement has been drafted into the squad as cover while David Wright could play in the centre at a push with Sito Castro regaining his place in the side.

Owen Garvan has shown he is also willing to drop back if needed.