Ipswich Town manager refuses to rule out move for exiled Bristol City midfielder

Kieran McKenna has responded to Nigel Pearson’s claims that Ipswich have not taken up an option to sign Bakinson
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Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has refuted claims that they are not considering re-signing wantaway Bristol City midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson.

Bakinson has been made to train with the Under 23’s squad and has not joined the Robins on their warm weather training camp abroad for this week.

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The 23-year-old returned to training with the players last week but is unlikely to feature in the first-team this season after falling out of favour back in January.

City boss Nigel Pearson on Friday confirmed Bakinson was at the High Performance Centre and training but seemingly ruled out a return to Portman Road after a withdrawal of interest.

He said: “He’s here but he’s not training with us at the moment. Ipswich have decided that they don’t want to take their option on him, so we’ll be looking to try and find a solution to that.”

But the latest update is that Ipswich aren’t fully out of the race yet to sign the former Luton Town midfielder, that is despite signing Dominic Ball after his release from Queens Park Rangers.

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Bakinson had a successful spell in Suffolk last year and played regularly after making the loan move in January. He made a total of 17 appearances including 14 starts and scored in wins over Doncaster Rovers and Charlton.

Speaking to the East Anglian Daily Times, McKenna said: “I think there’s still time on that option that we have, so we’ve not had discussions yet with Tyreeq or with Bristol City as I’m aware of.

Contracts in football tend to expire on June 30 or July 1, so that could be the deadline set on Ipswich to take up their option.

Given though no other club at the moment has been linked with a move for him yet, then City may extend that into the coming weeks.

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After getting Kasey Palmer, who was reportedly a high earner of the club off of their wage bill, as well as Callum O’Dowda, more departures are expected and Bakinson should be one of them.

Four contracted players were told to find new playing opportunities this summer, so if they were to depart it could free up wages and resources to sign new players.

"To a certain extent it will be about outgoings,” Pearson said when asked what is next for transfers.

"The financial aspects of it as well, may dictate it. I don’t want to paint a picture that we’re in financial difficulties.

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“What we have to do is manage our situation with a realistic and sensible touch, and that’s the bottom line.

"I’ll be the blocker, more often than not, than the hierarchy, in terms of whether we do deals or not. Because if deals become too expensive, I’ll just say no, we’re not doing it.”

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