Eurosport - Tue, 15 Jul 10:07:00 2008
Transfer Talk is loathe to advocate returns to former clubs - it always seems to end in tears - but Ipswich boss Jim Magilton seems not to care and is keen on bringing Richard Wright back for a second spell at Portman Road.
And Magilton is not a patient man. He wants a final decision made on his bid for the West Ham goalkeeper by the end of the week - or else.
"We are not prepared to wait too much longer," Magilton told the East Anglian Daily Times. "I will give it a few more days and see how the land lies and I hope a deal can be concluded, if not we will look elsewhere."
Meanwhile, with relegation comes the rather inevitable exodus of the more capable players in a team. And so it is at Reading, where boss Steve Coppell knows he must trim down his squad before he can think about rebuilding for the future.
Coppell has identified getting shot of the Royals' wantaway players as his main priority this summer - so he has enough time to find and then bed in new faces before the start of the new season.
Coppell says he is willing to let Nicky Shorey, Stephen Hunt and James Harper - all three of whom believe their futures lie elsewhere - leave the Madejski Stadium should the right offer come in.
Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is an admirer of Shorey, Roy Keane is believed to be keen on taking Hunt to Sunderland and Harper has been targeted by both Bolton and Middlesbrough .
Taking Coppell's stance into account, the first two deals are likely to go through, but doubts have emerged over Harper's exit. The former Arsenal midfielder's suitors are thought to be willing to spend £3 million for his services, but Reading are holding out for slightly more.
Why? Because the Royals want to cover the cost of the stake in the player still owned by the Gunners, which they believe will bump the price up to around the £5.5 million mark. That may be too much for both Bolton and Boro though, leaving Harper to consider at the very least a season in the Championship.
One transfer that has, so far at least, not hit any snags is that of Charlton striker Marcus Bent to Cardiff. The WAG-loving lothario (if the papers are to be believed) will undergo a medical later today before sealing his move to Ninian Park.
Over at Molineux, Mick McCarthy is set to make a double swoop for defender Cristophe Berra and striker Chris Iwelumo. The Wolves boss wants to end the long-lasting Berra saga with an improved bid of £1.5 million this week while Charlton goal ace Iwelumo is close to sealing a move that would see him fill the boots of Freddy Eastwood, who has been a Coventry player since last week.
Staying in the Midlands, Birmingham defender Franck Queudrue - branded "a pile of rubbish" by chairman David Sullivan last season - is set to exit St Andrews after committing footaballing hari kari by not turning up for pre-season training on time.
The Frenchman has since been left out of the Blues' tour of Austria and transfer listed. But, as yet, there have been no takers.
And finally, the Championship could be enriched by two new foreign faces next season - Honduras left-back Emiliano Izaguirre has joined Ipswich's pre-season tour of Northern Ireland and Plymouth are eyeing up swoop for Slovakia keeper Lubos Hajduch . Never heard of them? TT will be honest - neither have we.
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