Ipswich Town: What could happen in January transfer window

Nathan Broadhead scored eight goals for Ipswich Town in the second half of last season after arriving from Everton in January for a fee of £1.5m. (Image: Stephen Waller)

LAST JANUARY 

Ipswich had decent squad depth and were second in the League One table heading into 2023. Yet Kieran McKenna still strengthened from a position of strength. 

Massimo Luongo (Jan 5), George Hirst (Jan 8), Nathan Broadhead (Jan 9) and Harry Clarke (Jan 19) all arrived from higher level clubs long before deadline day. Replacing Janoi Donacien, Lee Evans, Marcus Harness and Freddie Ladapo in the side, they all played key roles in the Blues securing promotion with steam-train like momentum. 

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says he always looks for 'young, hungry, technical and athletic' players. (Image: PA)

CAREFUL BALANCE 

From day one, McKenna has said his recruitment will centre largely around 'young, hungry, technical and athletic' players who have a passion to play for the club. 

The Blues boss is constantly looking at ways he can add new attributes to his squad, but he’s also very mindful of its careful balance. Making it too bloated, or having a player or two on a lot more money than the rest, could quickly cause morale issues. 

Chief executive Mark Ashton said recently: “Kieran will only bring in the right type of players. He won’t just bring in a player for the numbers - that’s just not in his make-up. He's selective and that is something I’m really proud of.   

“There were other players we could have signed at the end of the (summer) window, we had the financial firepower to do it, but Kieran was really clear; ‘No, I’m good with what we’ve got, we've got unity and balance, the squad is good’.” 

Ipswich Town chief executive Mark Ashton (left) says manager Kieran McKenna will be backed in the January transfer window. (Image: Pagepix)

THE BUDGET 

It’s no secret that Ipswich’s American owners have a substantial pot of money to dip into. They’ve always said it will be spent in a ‘smart, intelligent, not wasteful manner’ though. 

The club did not get dragged into any major bidding wars last summer. The biggest transfer fees spent so far under Gamechanger 20 Ltd has been between £1-1.5m on the likes of Leif Davis, Clarke, Jack Taylor, Nathan Broadhead and George Hirst.  

That figure, undoubtedly, will soon rise. Will that be this January? Quite possibly.  

“As a result of (not spending big) last summer, we’ll now have more firepower to go again in January and we’ll have more firepower to go again next summer," said Ashton, speaking exclusively to the EADT and Ipswich Star last month. 

“That said, January is always a difficult transfer window. It’s a seller’s window, not a buyer’s window. But we’ll be prepared going into it.” 

A recent report in The Sun suggested that Ipswich have a budget of £3m - and £15k-a-week in wages – to sign a striker. My understanding is the Blues could push beyond that if they felt the right player was available.  

“You’ve got to remember, we’re governed by profit and sustainability rules,” said Ashton. “We know exactly what our headroom is. We’ll be brave and we’ll be bold, but we won’t be reckless. There’s a big difference.” 

SQUAD LIMIT 

Championship clubs can register a maximum of 25 ‘senior’ players for league action at any one time. Changes to that list can be made throughout transfer windows. 

Club-owned players who were under the age of 21 at the start of the calendar year in which the season started are ineligible (that’s Cieran Slicker, Elkan Baggott and Cameron Humphreys for Ipswich). Unlike in League One though, goalkeepers and loan players of any age have to be included.  

Ipswich are currently at that 25-man limit. Their registered squad is: Hladky, Walton; Clarke, Williams, Donacien; Woolfenden, Burgess, Tuanzebe, Edmundson; Davis; Morsy, Luongo, Taylor, Ball, Evans; Burns, Hutchinson, Jackson; Chaplin, Aluko; Broadhead, Harness; Hirst, Ladapo, Scarlett. 

Lee Evans, currently out of action following knee surgery, could be deregistered from the Ipswich Town squad in January to make space for a new recruit. (Image: Pagepix)

FREEING UP SPACE 

Midfielder Lee Evans underwent knee surgery back in October and still has a fair way to go with his rehab, while attacker Sone Aluko hasn’t made a single league matchday squad this season. There’s every chance both of them could be deregistered from the squad to free up space. 

Will two spots be enough to play with? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll come onto that in a moment.  

Freddie Ladapo has seen his game time dry up of late. Could the Ipswich Town striker be sold in January? (Image: Ross Halls)

POTENTIAL SALES 

If Ipswich do want to sign more than two, others would have to make way. I can only see a couple of candidates here. 

Janoi Donacien, who was a constant at right-back during the first 12 months of Kieran McKenna’s reign, has battled groin injuries this campaign and been limited to just three league appearances (and they all came before Brandon Williams arrived). It’s hard to see the 30-year-old getting a new contract when his current deal expires next summer. 

He is one of just four senior full-backs though and also provides central defensive cover. Will McKenna feel it prudent to keep a versatile, reliable and low maintenance player around for the next few months? I think so. The time to replace him with a full-back for the future is probably next summer. 

Freddie Ladapo has a superb goals-per-minute ratio for the Blues, but it’s perhaps telling that his game-time off the bench has started to dry up over recent weeks. He didn’t even get on the pitch in the recent home games against Millwall, Coventry and Norwich, with McKenna turning to Kayden Jackson and Dane Scarlett instead. 

I can see the 30-year-old, who still has 18 months left on his deal, being sold to a lower end Championship club or top end League One outfit. 

Time will tell if Ipswich Town send the highly-rated Cameron Humphreys (left) out for his first loan spell this January. (Image: PA Images)

POTENTIAL LOAN EXITS 

Highly-rated homegrown duo Elkan Baggott and Cameron Humphreys could both do with regular game time. 

Baggott’s situation is complicated by the fact he’s set to be with Indonesia for the Asian Cup in January. I could see still him joining a League One club though. 

Town have taken an in-house development route with Humphreys so far, but he’s 20 now and it feels like it’s time for him to go and play games. Ipswich would be selective over the club he goes to.  

Then again, it may be wise to keep him around given the impact a couple of major international tournaments could have on the squad... 

Cameron Burgess is set to be away with Australia at the Asian Cup in January/February. (Image: Ross Halls)

TEMPORARY HOLES 

The Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations are both coming up at the start of 2023. 

The latter, hopefully, shouldn’t affect Ipswich. Influential skipper Sam Morsy may have earned an Egypt recall back in September, but he’s not been picked since.

Massimo Luongo has just announced his international retirement too, meaning he won’t be away with Australia.

Cameron Burgess looks set to be away with the Socceroos from January 12 though. He’ll definitely miss Sunderland (h) and Leicester (a). Depending on how Australia do in Qatar, he could also be absent for Rotherham (h), Preston (a) and West Brom (h) too. 

Could Idris El Mizouni be recalled from his loan spell at Leyton Orient in January? (Image: PA)

WHAT TOWN NEED 

So then, where would McKenna look to strengthen? 

I think a striker will be top of the shopping list. George Hirst has taken to the Championship superbly, but he needs someone who can tap-in when the tank is empty. Scarlett may yet be that man, but the 19-year-old is only on loan from Tottenham (and it’s not impossible he’s recalled due to a lack of game time). Ipswich may see this month as the chance to go and buy someone to develop for themselves. I understand that Fulham’s Jay Stansfield, currently on loan at Championship rivals Birmingham, is one on a long list under consideration.  

Might a centre-half, potentially on loan, be looked at to cover the temporary Burgess hole? Possibly. One option might be Derby’s Eiran Cashin. It looks like the 20-year-old will sign for a Premier League club in January – Brighton reportedly the front-runners – before being loaned to a Championship club. But if there’s no chance of ultimately signing a player like that, then is it really necessary? A central defensive pairing of Luke Woolfenden and Axel Tuanzebe, with George Edmundson and Dominic Ball acting as cover, certainly wouldn’t be the end of the world. It’s just about how important McKenna thinks that left-footed balance is in his backline.   

Fulham striker Jay Stansfield, currently on loan at Birmingham City, is a player understood to be on Ipswich Town's long list of potential January transfer targets. (Image: PA)

Is a central midfielder now needed given we know Luongo isn’t going away? Adding someone with deep-lying playmaker skills, to ultimately replace Evans, might be a consideration. Recalling Idris El Mizouni from his loan spell at Leyton Orient is, of course, an in-house option. He’s been wearing the captain’s armband for the O’s in League One. 

Then there’s the question of whether the striker supporting cast of Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin, Nathan Broadhead, Omari Hutchinson, Marcus Harness, Jackson and Scarlett is enough. That's seven players for three positions. With Jackson out of contract in the summer, and Hutchinson only on loan, Town could add someone with the future as much as the present in mind.