Ipswich Town supporters will be looking forward to their side getting back to Premier League action after the lengthy international break has finished, with plenty of positives to take away from their last league game which ended in a 1-1 draw with Marco Silva’s Fulham.
The Tractor Boys will aim to pick up their first three points soon in the testing division, but will know there are no charitable sides in such an intense league, with Brighton and Hove Albion away from home the next tricky clash awaiting the Suffolk underdogs.
Kieran McKenna would have taken many plus points from the home draw with Fulham to move forward with, happy that new recruit Liam Delap is now up and running in an Ipswich shirt after scoring the opener against the Cottagers.
Liam Delap’s transfer to Ipswich
Fresh off multiple loan spells at EFL clubs, this major move to Ipswich – which sees Delap leave behind the comforts of Manchester City permanently – will be the ultimate test of the 21-year-old’s character and talent.
Quiet in the opening two league contests in terms of goal contributions, Delap finally got the monkey off his back by scoring his first Ipswich goal last time out.
Placing a wonderful shot past Bernd Leno following a lightning-quick burst of pace which saw the Cottagers back off him, everyone with associations to Portman Road will hope that Delap can now go on a run of scoring important goals to help his team move away from the dreaded bottom three positions.
Costing a bumper £20m to acquire, the pressure will be on the ex-Man City wonderkid to deliver, with a significant wad of cash being splashed on his services.
He could well have been helped in his mission to affirm his status as Ipswich’s new main man up top if the Tractor Boys had managed to secure a deal for Dennis Praet.
Dennis Praet’s failed move to Ipswich
As per journalist Graeme Bailey, Ipswich – among a whole host of other lower Premier League outfits – had an opportunity to snap up Dennis Praet this summer on a free transfer after he walked away from Leicester.
Praet has now headed back to his native Belgium with Royal Antwerp, but the likes of Ipswich, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham and many more just couldn’t strike up a deal for the forgotten former Foxes man to join their respective clubs.
Praet could well have given McKenna’s men another versatile body capable of cutting defences open with a killer through ball or pass, picking up six assists from the central midfield positions at the King Power Stadium from 38 games.
Capable of also playing further forward in an attacking midfield capacity, and all across many different positions in the forward areas, he could well have linked up with Delap well on his potential arrival to Portman Road, having notched up 15 goals and 21 assists in an attacking midfield spot for Anderlecht before a £18m move to Leicester occurred in 2019.
Praet’s career numbers by position | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Position played | Games | Goals | Assists |
CM | 133 | 6 | 12 |
AM | 127 | 20 | 24 |
LM | 40 | 7 | 11 |
RM | 17 | 0 | 3 |
RW | 14 | 1 | 0 |
LW | 7 | 1 | 2 |
DM | 3 | 0 | 0 |
SS | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
Labelled as “outstanding” by former Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers when the now Celtic manager was still situated at the King Power, moving to Ipswich would also have allowed Praet to redeem himself in the English game, having picked up just one paltry assist last season in league action under Enzo Maresca.
McKenna does have a knack of getting more out of talents who have been thrown to the footballing scrap heap, but Ipswich will have to make do with what they have now, as the Premier League gets back underway very soon.
