Bullard makes move to ease financial pressure on Tigers

The 32-year-old one-time £5m arrival from Fulham has moved to Portman Road until the end of the season after agreement was reached on how the midfield player’s £45,000 per week wages would be paid.

Under the terms of the deal, it is believed Ipswich will contribute more than 40 per cent – adding up to a considerable saving of more than £400,000 for the Tigers.

It is the second substantial saving made by City in a week following Kamil Zayatte’s move to Turkish club Konyaspor, the cancelling of the remaining 19 months on the defender’s contract adding up to around £1.7m.

Adam Pearson said: “The move is in the best interests of both the club and player. Jimmy has not been playing and this move will clearly help improve his match fitness. He needs to reinvigorate his career, which has slowed down.

“The big plus for the club is the significant saving it will make in terms of our wage bill. Ipswich are paying a significant proportion of his wages and that, on top of Kamil Zayatte being allowed to leave, represents a welcome saving.”

Bullard’s departure, albeit on a temporary basis, has underlined once again the heavy price Hull have paid for bringing the play-maker north during their first season in the Premier League.

His 24 appearances since joining the club two years ago work out at more than £208,000 per game in terms of the transfer fee alone, while the huge contract handed to Bullard seems likely to forever represent the largesse that almost brought City down before the rescue by the Allam family late last year.

At Ipswich, Bullard will be reunited with Paul Jewell and the pair will be hoping for a repeat of their hugely successful time together at Wigan Athletic.

Pearson said: “This move gives Jimmy an opportunity to play and rediscover some of his form. That can only be good news.”

Asked if Ipswich had indicated a willingness for Bullard to stay beyond the end of the season, Pearson replied: “It is early days.

“Obviously, the size of Jimmy’s deal here means that if he does leave before the end of his contract in two-and-a-half years time then a balance will have to be struck. At the moment, it is just a case of Jimmy moving to play some football.”

City are back in action tomorrow at home to leaders Queens Park Rangers and then host Leeds United on Tuesday night, games that Pearson admits could have a huge bearing on whether the East Riding club can force their way into the Championship promotion race.

He said: “The squad, as a whole, has a much better balance now and we are going into the next two games with plenty of confidence. In many ways, they will go someway towards defining our season and an indication of how far we have come.”

City have received international clearance to play Tunisian midfielder Tijani Belaid, who last week joined the club on an initial six-month deal after being released by Slavia Prague.