THOMAS Gaardsoe will today hold talks with West Bromwich Albion after Ipswich Town last night agreed an initial £500,000 bid for the Dane.Blues chairman David Sheepshanks exclusively revealed to the EADT that the club had accepted Albion's third offer for Gaardsoe.

THOMAS Gaardsoe will today hold talks with West Bromwich Albion after Ipswich Town last night agreed an initial £500,000 bid for the Dane.

Blues chairman David Sheepshanks exclusively revealed to the EADT that the club had accepted Albion's third offer for Gaardsoe.

Sheepshanks said: "Having rejected two previous bids we have today agreed terms with West Bromwich Albion for the sale of Thomas Gaardsoe and they have been given permission to speak to him regarding personal terms.

"Thomas has become a popular figure at Portman road and if he is to leave many will be sad to see him go.

"Nevertheless given the realities of life outside of the Premiership and in our current position with commitments to our creditors as part of the CVA, after careful deliberation with Joe Royle it is a bid that we have chosen to accept.

"In terms of team building Joe made it his priority this summer to bring in a top new goalkeeper and two new central defenders, one of whom would be versatile and also able to play in midfield.

"We have now secured all three of the players that Joe wanted in Kelvin Davis, Drissa Diallo and Georges Santos. However the reality of building a squad capable of challenging promotion is there will always have to be departures as well as arrivals.

"Everyone I speak to is excited about the new season and hopefully rightfully so, as Joe has assembled a strong squad but there is no escaping the fact that we still have a need to further consolidate financially which is why, for example, a successful forthcoming share issue is so important in strengthening the capital base of the club."

It is believed the fee will rise to more than £600,000 with add-ons and the club have insisted on a sell-on clause.

The prospect of losing Thomas Gaardsoe to the Baggies has infuriated Ipswich Town supporters.

While supporters accept Andy Marshall, Martijn Reuser, Alun Armstrong, Nabil Abidallah and James Pullen could leave on free transfers, they are angry that Town may be close to losing another popular player.

Ipswich Town Supporters Club chairman Ian Pennock last night made it clear fans would not be happy to see Gaardsoe go.

He said: "I'm disgusted and disappointed that the club seem ready to once more to let go of one of our top young players.

"They have sold Matteo Sereni and Matt Holland this summer, for what we are led to believe were significant amounts in the current climate, so why do we now need to sell Thomas Gaardsoe for around £500,000, which is the figure we have seen quoted?

"We bought Thomas for more than £1m and he has improved as a player since he has been here so it still seems an unsuitable offer.

"When is it all going to end?"

The former Denmark Under-21 international has been virtually ever-present in Joe Royle's side since October. But the arrival of Georges Santos has put a question mark over his starting position.