Ipswich step up Michael Chopra chase and look set to seal Cardiff ace for £4mIpswich are ready to increase their offer and land Cardiff striker Michael Chopra for a fee of just over £4million.
Chopra, 26, is boss Roy Keane's number one summer transfer target but the Bluebirds have so far rejected the Tractor Boys' bids, the most recent of which was for £3.75m.
But Keane will get his man after Cardiff boss Dave Jones reluctantly decided to part company with the player who cost him £4m from Sunderland a year ago.
Jones is ready to splash a large part of the cash he receives for 21-goal Chopra on Swindon's Charlie Austin, who netted 20 times in his first Football League campaign following a move from Poole Town in July last year.
Keane had led Sunderland to the Championship crown and a top-flight return when he spent £5m to sign Chopra from Cardiff three years ago.
But the player, who launched his career with Newcastle, bagged just eight Premiership goals in 38 appearances before being loaned back to the Welshmen and then making the move permanent last summer.
Keane is hoping to raise money from the sale of striker Jon Stead to home-town club Huddersfield, where he launched his career eight years ago.
Stead was the Tractor Boys' six-goal top scorer when he was loaned to Coventry last season, scoring twice in 10 league appearances for the Sky Blues.
The two clubs agreed a £400,000 fee for the former England Under-21 cap but a change of manager at the Ricoh Arena, Aidy Boothroyd replacing the sacked Chris Coleman, scuppered that deal.
Stead is one of several Ipswich players with a year left on their Portman Road contracts to have been told they do not feature in Keane's future plans.
Meanwhile, Ipswich and Norwich are among a number of Championship clubs weighing up a move for Charlton skipper Nicky Bailey.
