Ipswich Town: Leif Davis on new deal, England dream & Kalvin Phillips

There hasn’t been loads of speculation about his future, aside from the odd vague link, but coming into the final year of his deal - with the option for a further year – was always going to invite interest.

As a result, it was important for the Blues to tie him down, especially given how important Davis has been in their rise from the third tier up to the Premier League.

“We were in League One when I joined. When I did come, they had high hopes for getting back up the leagues, but obviously not this soon,” he admitted.

“We’ve done it in two years, which is incredible. I don’t think any other team has done it like this. To do it with the team that we had is special.

“Another four years here is incredible, that’s why I committed to staying here for four more years.

“I love everything about the club and everything about Ipswich, and all the supporters in Ipswich as well.”

Unsurprisingly, these negotiations haven’t come from nowhere. Davis has had a regular dialogue with the club about his future, although it was always clear what he wanted to do.

“From the end of last season, that’s when the talks started really,” he revealed. “It was just about getting it right.

Davis has featured in every minute of the Blues' Premier League campaign so far (Image: ITFC/Matchday Images)

“You can’t rush anything that’s not right. Everything had to be perfect for me.

“I wanted to stay, obviously. I was never going to change my mind, I was always going to focus on my football.

“Now it’s all done and dusted, I can focus on it even more, get my head down and show what I can do.”

Asked if he had a favourite game from his time at the club, Davis had a moment to think before saying: “I think what topped it for me was the Peterborough game [3-0 win at London Road on April 22nd, 2023]. That’s when we kind of knew – well, we didn’t know – but we went on 14-game unbeaten run in the League One year.

“That stint of the season was the best part of my career so far because nothing went wrong for us, everything was perfect. It wasn’t down to luck, it was down to how we were training and preparing for games, the attitude the lads were showing towards the games and taking it game-by game.”

Davis’ career has changed a lot since that game. Matches against League One opponents are a thing of the past, even if the memories of the victories will live long in the memory.

Now, he’s facing some of the best sides in the world, with a slightly different schedule to make up for it.

“It’s a bit different this year. You go Saturday to Saturday instead of Saturday to Tuesday. You get a lot more rest in between weeks,” he explained.

“The quality is football that we’re playing in this year is a million times better than what we were playing in last year. You can feel it from when you step onto the pitch, you don’t see the ball for a good five or 10 minutes!

The left-back is playing regular top-flight football for the first time in his career (Image: Ross Halls)

“That’s the thing, it’s the best league in the world. Everyone wants to play in it, you’re playing against the best players in the world as well. It’s a challenge every week.”

This isn’t Davis’ first taste of Premier League football, but his time at Leeds United was totally different to what he’s experiencing at Ipswich this season.

“I played two games for Leeds but it was off the bench with no fans, which was a big part when I did play against Liverpool for my first start,” he recalled.

“One of the games, I was playing centre-half. I was thinking, ‘oh God, I’m coming on at Man United away at 6-0 down playing centre-half. What can I do here?’ - it was all about the same time.

“With the teams, they’re two different teams. Leeds, we were fit and we went man-to-man. Here, we’re fit as well, but we play a better style of football as well, we can hurt teams a lot more.

“It’s just enjoyable.”

Being a regular at this level opens the door for more opportunities. One that’s often come up in conversations about Davis is an England call-up, especially with their lack of depth at left-back.

New manager Thomas Tuchel plays with wing-backs, which could benefit Davis, who flourishes in an attack-minded role. He admitted that it’d be a ‘dream’ to represent the Three Lions, even if his focus is on football at club level.

“It’d be incredible,” he stated. “It’d be a dream to play for England, to play for my country.

Davis will look to catch the eye of new England boss Thomas Tuchel (Image: PA)

“I’m just focusing on what I’ve got to do on a Saturday. Every weekend, I play for Ipswich. That’s the main focus at the weekend.

“I’ll do everything I can to keep improving. If it comes, it comes, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and improving every week.”

Unlike a lot of senior internationals, Davis hasn’t represented England at any level, nor have they reached out to him, but he doesn’t think it’ll prevent him from earning caps.

“I’ve never had any contact with any England age groups, nothing,” he revealed.

“I don’t think that matters at all. If you’re a good enough player, you’re a good enough player to play for the country. You’ve just got to show why you’re good enough to play for them and work hard.

“When you do get that opportunity, you’ve got to grab it with both hands to get in the next camp as well.”

Davis has gone a long way to ticking off experiences on his football bucket list. His first Premier League start came back in August – a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Portman Road – which is when everything started to feel real for him.

“It was ‘welcome back to the Prem’, wasn’t it?” he chuckled. “To be fair, from last year when we got promoted, I didn’t feel like it sunk in properly until that first day when we were stood in the tunnel. You look to your left and see [Mohamed] Salah, [Virgil] van Dijk, all the top players in the world.

“Then when you go out on the pitch, you can really feel the difference where you realise, ‘right, we’re in a game here’.

The 24-year-old picked Brighton's Carlos Baleba as his toughest opponent so far this season (Image: PA)

“It’s an incredible experience, I’ve loved every single minute of it. Even though we haven’t got the win we wanted, the boys are loving it as well.

“We’ve just got to keep out heads down and not let any pressure get to us.”

Davis doesn’t believe that Salah has been his toughest opponent, nor Erling Haaland, Savinho, Adama Traore or Jarrod Bowen. Instead, he was quick to pick out a 20-year-old Cameroon international who plays for Brighton.

“It’s [Carlos] Baleba. For me, he’s one of the best players I’ve played against ever. I don’t know how, but he looks so clean and so smooth on the ball.

“He’s still a young lad as well, which is mental, I didn’t think he was that young. He looks like he’s playing with no pressure on his shoulders, nothing.

“Against us, I think he ran the game. It was difficult to get near him. In the games after, we’ve watched him and he’s exactly the same.

“I’d say Baleba at Brighton.”

When it comes to his team, there are a number of stand-out players, many of whom were signed over the summer and are still settling into life at Ipswich.

Jack Clarke and Kalvin Phillips are two of the biggest names to arrive since promotion, and Davis played with both of them during his time at Elland Road. He’s impressed by what he’s seen from them so far, but believes that they’ll continue to improve as they adapt to Kieran McKenna’s style of play.

“For me personally, I know their qualities, so I know what they can do. I think Clarkey’s shown that in little bits, so has Kalvin, but they’ve still got a lot more to come – based on what I’ve seen from them at their best. It’s nice to play with some familiar faces.

Davis played with Kalvin Phillips at Leeds United (Image: Ross Halls)

“It’s been hard for them because they’re adapting to how we play. Clarkey’s used to playing out by the touchline and getting out 1-v-1, now he’s got to play inside.

“It’s just taking time for him to adapt to that position that he’s playing in, the left-hand role. It’s the same for Kalvin, because he’s been used to playing as a single pivot in the middle.

“He’s enjoying playing alongside Skip [Sam Morsy]. The Skip does a lot of dirty work for him as well – I think they cover each other really well.

“He’s loving it down here. He spoke to me about it and said he’s been really happy. Everyone who’s come in has, which is a good thing.”

Looking ahead, there are plenty of big games coming up, starting with a trip to West London to take on Brentford this weekend. Davis isn’t looking too far into the future, but he does have his eye on one particular clash that’s set to take place at the end of April.

“There’s one team that I’m looking forward to playing against which is Newcastle, my home team.

“My full family are from Newcastle, they support Newcastle. I had a season ticket there.

“From watching it at the stands at St. James’ Park to playing there. It’s not just Newcastle, I’ll always give my hardest for whoever I’m playing against, but it’ll be a special day. Not just for me, but for my family as well.”