READING boss Alan Pardew is ready to splash out more than £1.5m on three new players when he returns from holiday next week, writes Derek Davis.Ipswich Town entertain Reading on the opening days of the new season and by the time the Berkshire outfit return for pre-season training on Monday they should have secured the services of midfielder Ritchie Partridge for £350,000 from Liverpool, winger Scott Murray from Bristol City for £650,000 and striker David Conolly for £500,000 from Wimbledon.

READING boss Alan Pardew is ready to splash out more than £1.5m on three new players when he returns from holiday next week, writes Derek Davis.

Ipswich Town entertain Reading on the opening days of the new season and by the time the Berkshire outfit return for pre-season training on Monday they should have secured the services of midfielder Ritchie Partridge for £350,000 from Liverpool, winger Scott Murray from Bristol City for £650,000 and striker David Conolly for £500,000 from Wimbledon.

And Pardew is close to finalising details to sign central defender Ivar Ingirmarsson from Wolves.

Such spending in the Nationwide League is rare these days but compared to many of their Division One rivals the Royals are flush with cash thanks to the backing of magazine magnate John Madejski.

Nigel Worthington at the Blues' East Anglian rivals Norwich is getting increasingly frustrated in his attempts to buy a new striker.

He is unwilling to pay the price demanded by Crewe for Rob Hulse and Stockport for Luke Beckett, with both rated at almost £1m.

Interest from a number of other Division One sides is keeping the price high, with Cardiff City still keen despite being spurned by Hulse, and the Bluebirds are also considering Beckett.

West Brom boss Gary Megson has a reasonable kitty, even after splashing out £400,000 for Sunderland's Swiss defender Bernt Haas. Jason Roberts has asked for a transfer so he is on the lookout for another striker.

Paul Jewell at Wigan is another tracking Hulse and Beckett but appears to have made Birmingham City's Geoff Horsfield his No. 1 target.

Sunderland are keen to land Colin Healy from Celtic with Mick McCarthy looking to reshape his squad by offloading a number of players. With Haas following David Bellion (Manchester United) and Jurgen Macho (Chelsea) out of the Stadium of Light, McCarthy is still expecting more departures, with Kevin Phillips and Claudio Reyna among the more high profile ones likely to leave. McCarthy knows midfielder Healy after handing him his Republic of Ireland debut.

Gillingham are less than pleased with midfielder Simon Osborne, who shook hands on a new deal to stay at Priestfield only to sign for Walsall. The Saddlers have also taken Stefan Oakes from Leicester City.

Newly-promoted Leicester and Portsmouth have both moved to strengthen their defences with Grimsby's highly-rated Danny Coyne joining the Foxes as an understudy to Ian Walker, while Harry Redknapp is close to securing keeper Harald Wapenaar from Amstel Cup winners FC Utrecht. With Shaka Hislop likely to miss the start of the Premiership season and Japanese Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi with a pelvic problem Redknapp has offered the 33-year-old Dutchman a three-year, £10,000 a week deal.

Coventry City striker Jay Bothroyd may be playing in Italy next season with Perugia.

The former England Under-21 striker, transfer-listed by the Sky Blues, is currently on trial with the Serie A side.

City have recently taken on Dele Adebola from Crystal Palace and Stephen Warnock has signed a season-long loan deal from Liverpool.