Ipswich accept bid for Matt Holland
Portsmouth have had a £750,000 offer for Republic of Ireland midfielder Matt Holland accepted by Ipswich.
Town agreed a fee of £4m with Aston Villa in August last year but have been “reluctantly” forced to accept the vastly reduced bid from Barclaycard Premiership new boys Portsmouth due to the state of the transfer market.
Ipswich chairman David Sheepshanks told the club’s official website www.itfc.co.uk: “As I think has been well understood by our supporters over recent weeks, most regrettably and reluctantly we have been obliged to consider the transfer opportunities for our much admired and outstanding captain Matt Holland.
“For any club outside the Premiership, it is not just about transfer fees but also the size of wage commitments.
“Matt Holland was not on huge money by Premier League standards but nevertheless on a level that is simply unaffordable in the First Division.
“The state of the transfer market is such that while there is interest in a player of Matt’s pedigree, the very best fee that we have been able to obtain is £750,000 from Portsmouth.
“This is particularly tough to digest when a year ago much higher values were being spoken of and indeed in August 2002 we agreed a sale to Aston Villa of £4m.
“It is now up to Matt to discuss personal terms with Portsmouth. Clearly if he decides to go he will be a huge loss but by the same token we have every confidence in Joe Royle being able to replace Matt in the team and build his Ipswich Town side for the future.”
Holland is currently on international duty with the Republic of Ireland preparing for the Euro 2004 qualifiers against Albania and Georgia.
If the move goes through, the Ipswich captain will link up again with Pompey boss Harry Redknapp who released Holland during his reign as West Ham manager.
