Leeds United, Crystal Palace and QPR appear to have missed out on signing Luke Woolfenden with Ipswich Town tying their star defender down to a new four-year contract, according to the East Anglian Daily Times.
Earlier this week, one of the most talented centre-backs in the Football League might have set pulses racing at Elland Road and elsewhere.
Speaking to EADT, the £3 million-rated Woolfenden admitted that he was flattered to catch the eye of ‘big clubs’ such as Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.
With his marauding, ball-playing style, the Ipswich academy graduate looked pretty much tailor-built for Bielsa-ball, while Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers have also been linked via the TWDT in March.
And fans of this stalling Tractor Boys’ side must have wondered whether they had seen the last of Woolfenden when the League One campaign was curtailed.
Ipswich, after all, finished well adrift of the play-offs and have been consigned to another season of third-tier football.
But, in what will be seen as a major coup at Portman Road, the underachieving Anglians have convinced Woolfenden to snub interest from higher up the pyramid, including Sheffield United, and put pen to paper on a new four-year contract.
Lambert believes the 21-year-old will be worth £10 million one day soon (EADT).
With his new deal secured, Ipswich will now be free to demand a sizeable fee whenever Leeds or Palace come calling again.
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