Sunderland defender Chris Makin is on the brink of securing a £2 million move to Ipswich Town.

The Blues have already agreed a fee for the right-back and were due to discuss personal terms yesterday (Tuesday).

If the 27-year-old passes a medical, Makin may join his new team-mates for training on Thursday. That would make him available for the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.

Makin, who has England youth and schoolboy caps, established himself as a regular in the Black Cats' defence in 1998/99 and went on to pick up a First Division championship medal.

He started his career at Oldham Athletic before enjoying spells at Wigan Athletic and Marseille. He joined Sunderland for £500,000 in 1997.

Sunderland boss Peter Reid is already thought to have lined up a replacement for Makin in the shape of Argentinian Nicolas Medina.

Makin was one of four Sunderland players recently linked with Ipswich. The others were Kevin Kilbane, Daniele Dichio and Darren Wilson.

Other reported targets have included Manchester United's Mark Wilson, Newcastle United's Stephen Glass and Northampton Town's Jamie Forrester.

Town have sold their entire allocation of 2,200 tickets for the match at West Ham on March 17.

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