EXCLUSIVE BY DEREK DAVISIPSWICH Town will today sign Brighton midfielder Darren Currie for £250,000.The Blues have made a dramatic move for the experienced 30-year-old to help cover for the heavy schedule of games coming up over the Christmas and New Year period.

EXCLUSIVE

IPSWICH Town will today sign Brighton midfielder Darren Currie for £250,000.

The Blues have made a dramatic move for the experienced 30-year-old to help cover for the heavy schedule of games coming up over the Christmas and New Year period.

The signing will strengthen the Town squad in their bid for promotion back to the Premiership.

Currie, who is the nephew of Sheffield United legend Tony Currie, is a versatile player who impressed in the recent game at Portman Road, although Albion lost 1-0.

He was signed on a free transfer from Wycombe Wanderers in the summer, being offered a one-year deal with the Seagulls after impressing at a trial spell before the start of the season.

He has featured as a starter in virtually every Albion game this season, except at West Ham, when he came on as a substitute in a Brighton win.

Currie played up front against Ipswich last month but can also play all along the midfield line and his versatility will be a massive asset to the Blues. He celebrated his 30th birthday just two days after playing at Portman Road.

He has played for a number of clubs, starting as a trainee at West Ham. He had loan spells at Shrewsbury in 1994 and 1995, and at Leyton Orient the following season. Shrewsbury then splashed out £70,000 to sign him in February 1996.

His next move was to Plymouth, then Barnet, before Wycombe paid out £200,000 for his services in July 2001.

In all he made 109 appearances for Wycombe, after 120 at Barnet and 138 in his three spells at Shrewsbury.

He has made 23 appearances for Brighton this season, scoring two goals.

In all he has made 402 league appearances, scoring 59 goals, including 18 during his time at Barnet. In cup matches he has played 41 times, scoring another 11 goals.

Today's signing will mark the first time that Ipswich Town have paid cash for a player since December 2001 when they paid £3million for Marcus Bent from Blackburn.

Town chief executive Derek Bowden revealed earlier this year that the Blues did have funds to buy a player but it had been widely assumed that Joe Royle would only dip into the loan market or for free transfers at best.

Currie will go straight into the squad to face Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.