Ipswich Town FC &#8211; CaughtOffside

29-year-old prices himself out of Man United move with €25m demands

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317-time Man Utd player left without club as talks collapse over contract demands

The Tractor Boys have been busy in the market as they look to strengthen their squad to give themselves the best chance of avoiding relegation.

Omari Hutchinson has joined from Chelsea, whilst Kalvin Philips has arrived on loan from Manchester City and there’s still a chance of Armando Broja making the switch before Friday’s deadline.

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“What Kieran needs to do…” – Collymore offers advice to Premier League new boy

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 10:07:43 +0000

Ipswich Town have breezed into the Premier League as a breath of fresh air, playing with freedom and verve in their opening two games, but they haven’t impressed Stan Collymore.

The former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool striker knows only too well how quickly teams can drop back into the Championship if they can’t consolidate, and whist he appreciates what Kieran McKenna is trying to do, the Tractor Boys have still lost both of their opening matches.

It’s as if Ipswich believe that if they keep playing in the manner in which got them promoted, that eventually things will come good.

Collymore wants Ipswich to be more pragmatic

Losing matches when you’re playing good football is only going to knock the confidence and, ultimately, knock McKenna’s side out of its stride.

“The Premier League is littered with maybe managers including Paul Jewell who had a couple of seasons in the top flight, possibly thought he was going to go on and be a manager in the top flight forever and was spat out,” Collymore said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.

“The phone didn’t ring and he hasn’t been a manager since.

Kieran McKenna needs to be more pragmatic says Stan Collymore

“I think that what Kieran needs to do is, if he wants to be a Premier League manager with Ipswich over a period of years, or even be a Premier League manager with somebody else over a period of years, is that he’s got to play with a degree of pragmatism.

“In any vocation, you accept the terrain that you’re on, and don’t just say ‘I don’t care if I’m on Mount Snowden or I’m on Mont Blanc, I’m going to wear some flip flops and shorts and a vest.’ Do that, metaphorically speaking, and you’re going to get found out.

“I don’t think the manager should come out of the season with any credit whatsoever if his team are being smashed every week but if he adds a little bit of pragmatism, I think he can achieve his achieve his aims this season, and perhaps more importantly, have some longevity as a top class manager over the next 10-15 years.”

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It’s sensible advice from Collymore, because the Ipswich faithful would surely prefer to see their club back in the top flight for a few more years yet after such a long absence.

Carrying on in the same vain when it’s proven to not be working at Premier League level wouldn’t be the best advert for McKenna’s managerial credentials, if he’s looking to move on to a bigger job at some point.

Getting some points on the board is paramount for the club, and that can start with their fixture against Fulham at Portman Road this weekend.

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“100% off” – Fabrizio Romano confirms Chelsea transfer for attacker with 44 goals has now collapsed

Mehdi Gokal — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 17:38:24 +0000

Chelsea forward Armando Broja’s expected move to Ipswich Town has officially collapsed, as confirmed by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

The newly promoted Premier League side were keen on signing the versatile Albanian attacker, with a loan move that included an obligation to buy for £30 million reportedly close to completion.

However, an issue flagged during Broja’s medical halted the deal, leading Ipswich to back out.

Romano took to X to confirm the collapse of the deal, stating:

“Armando Broja’s move to Ipswich Town is 100% off and collapsed. He’s back to Chelsea now.”

??? Armando Broja’s move to Ipswich Town is 100% off and collapsed.

He’s back to Chelsea now. pic.twitter.com/ccnVRGXVL2

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 29, 2024

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Broja, a product of Chelsea’s youth system, has progressed through the ranks of the U18s, U19s, and U21s before breaking into the first team.

Despite his promise, he struggled to make a significant impact at the senior level, making only 38 appearances with three goals and two assists to his name. Throughout his career, he has scored 23 senior goals and contributed 44 goals and 11 assists across all levels.

This setback is a blow for Broja, who is reportedly not part of new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca’s plans.

Maresca has been clear in his intentions to reshape the squad, informing players like Raheem Sterling, Broja, and Ben Chilwell that they should seek new clubs.

Future uncertain as Broja faces rehabilitation

According to reports from the BBC, while a move to another club isn’t entirely ruled out, Broja will need a period of rehabilitation to address a foot injury sustained during Chelsea’s pre-season tour in the United States.

This situation could see him stay at Chelsea until the January transfer window when another opportunity might arise.

However, it is possible that he ends up staying with Chelsea until January before another solution is considered for him in the winter transfer window.

As the summer transfer window draws to a close, Broja’s immediate future remains uncertain, with a potential move deferred until he recovers from his injury.

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Collymore’s column: Carabao Cup draw isn’t a good look, solid start from Slot and much more

Stan Collymore — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 11:37:52 +0000

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including which team has had the best transfer window, is Kieran McKenna showing his naivety at Ipswich, should Chelsea players sue the club and much more.

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Ridiculous Carabao Cup draw shames the game

The Carabao Cup draw was an absolute shambles. It was a loaded, managed, overseeded draw, and we are now getting to the point whereby clubs with clout are having too much say in tournaments.

It’s massively subservient to the Premier League and the Champions League and the FA Cup will end up doing it too.

We’ve got the situation even as low as the National League, where U18 teams are playing senior men’s teams in their cup competition, and I just want to get back to having just one tournament somewhere where there’s 50 teams that go in a pot, they get drawn out and they play each other.

Back in 1978/79, Liverpool were champions of Europe and Nottingham Forest were the newly crowned champions of England when the draw was made for the European Cup.

Lo and behold, champions of England, Nottingham Forest, come out against defending European champions, Liverpool, and Forest beat Liverpool over two legs in an unseeded first round.

I think the fact that we’ve gone from a very common sense European Cup draw to an artificially constructed draw, which skews the draw towards clubs in the Champions League or high end in the Premier League, is killing the game with 1000 cuts.

It’s a really bad look for the Carabao Cup, but it’s a really bad look for football in England too.

Let’s get back to at least having one or two tournaments where you have an open draw, and every smaller club up and down the country is going ‘happy days, we might actually get an opportunity to win this.’

In the meantime… the game’s gone.

Transfer window common sense has been restored

It just goes to show that for Premier League clubs this summer, there’s a lot of creative accounting gymnastics going on.

I think it’s been a lukewarm window, and I think that I’m quite happy with that. The fact that clubs are having to look at alternative ways of creating squads and having to look for more value in the market is something that we’ve all been screaming for, for years.

Now it’s happening, people seem to feel a little bit short changed because a club hasn’t spent half a billion, the Sky Sports News ticker hasn’t gone over a billion pounds for the window….

There’s a degree of the Emperor’s New Clothes about the transfer window in that fans feel you’ve got to get three, four or five big name players in during every window to compete. You don’t.

Because of the academies – where you can promote players – and because squads are big enough nowadays anyway.

I actually think that my takeaway from this transfer window is that finally there’s some sort of common sense that has come back into English football, instead of turning on Sky Sports News and concerning ourselves with how many players have come in.

That’s a very healthy thing.

Kieran McKenna needs to be more pragmatic this season

If you go into a league and you play how you want but are getting done threes and fours and fives every week, that shows you are getting punished for having philosophies and theories that don’t work in your working environment.

It’s still very early days for Kieran McKenna at Ipswich, but I think he’s found, like Vincent Kompany did after managing to get the Bayern Munich job despite getting Burnley relegated, that football club owners like managers who play exciting and entertaining football.

They like entertainment because a decade ago in the Premier League, during the old Tony Pulis days at Stoke for example, football was stale and attendances were going down. That’s not a good look when you’re in the Premier League and you’re losing money season in, season out.

So of course, now every owner of a football club wants an entertaining coach that plays entertaining football and risk laden football, but the whole point of the Premier League is to compete and to stay in the league.

That enables a club to get enough money to be able to invite better players to them and for the club to stay in the league.

So I would like to think that Kieran McKenna has more about him than just ‘I’m going to play the way that I play, regardless if we get relegated.’

The Premier League is littered with maybe managers including Paul Jewell who had a couple of seasons in the top flight, possibly thought he was going to go on and be a manager in the top flight forever and was spat out. The phone didn’t ring and he hasn’t been a manager since.

I think that what Kieran needs to do is, if he wants to be a Premier League manager with Ipswich over a period of years, or even be a Premier League manager with somebody else over a period of years, is that he’s got to play with a degree of pragmatism.

In any vocation, you accept the terrain that you’re on, and don’t just say ‘I don’t care if I’m on Mount Snowden or I’m on Mont Blanc, I’m going to wear some flip flops and shorts and a vest.’ Do that, metaphorically speaking, and you’re going to get found out.

I don’t think the manager should come out of the season with any credit whatsoever if his team are being smashed every week but if he adds a little bit of pragmatism, I think he can achieve his achieve his aims this season, and perhaps more importantly, have some longevity as a top class manager over the next 10-15 years.

I’ll be bitterly disappointed in Trent if he’s trying to force a move

I’d be really disappointed if the thought had even crossed Trent’s mind that if he starts to be a bit of a mardy arse, he’ll get a move to Real Madrid. That would lower his stock significantly, because fans generally aren’t fans of people that want out of a club that is their club.

I remember Steve McManaman’s own move to Madrid, and his reputation at Liverpool never really recovered. I think there’s always a little bit of holding your nose in Liverpool where he’s concerned, and I think that it would be an awful look for Trent.

His attitude after being subbed was probably a case of professional pride in not wanting to come off the pitch, as well as thinking (about Arne Slot) ‘who does this guy think he is.’

Slot knows he’s on camera, and just said ‘I’ve subbed you off to give you a bit of a rest, it’s a long old season.’ No big deal.

I like that and the way that Slot’s going about his business. The style of play is to keep a little bit more possession, let’s not be as gung ho, but still at times having those kind of bursts we saw with Jota, Diaz and Salah.

I know Trent won’t listen to me, but please, please, please, you are the scouser in the team, you are the totem for the club. A lot of people, young Liverpool fans, look up to you as somebody that drives them forward. You’re needed for the marathon not the sprint.

Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ a prime example of why players could end up suing clubs

When I was a pro and got bombed out by John Gregory, it was just the norm. It was just the done thing. You’d still come in and train but it was a dispiriting experience, and one that, like a lot of other things football replicated at the time, was based around the armed forces.

There has to be some sort of significant cultural context to this to be able to give the younger readers an idea why football clubs behave the way they do sometimes.

Football back in the day effectively mirrored the army in terms of training methodology and behavioural methodology. Often football teams would literally go and train at army camps. Certainly, when I was at Crystal Palace, although I didn’t go, the first team squad went to Aldershot barracks and trained for a little while.

The whole thing was about team discipline.

The Army is very closely aligned to football in the sense that playing football in front of 50,000 people is quite an extreme thing to do just as being in the Army is extreme.

Football apprentices had to spend seven or eight hours sweeping the stands and it felt like a punishment. You got punished too if you didn’t clean the dressing rooms properly, or if you didn’t clean your pros kit properly.

The bomb squad, as it was known across football, was another example of that. ‘If you don’t do this right, you’re going to get the army discipline treatment.’

Of course, things have changed greatly and for the better, so that we now are very aware that if you sign an employment contract, you should be signing an employment contract for the duration of that contract and be what you were bought as, which is a senior professional footballer.

When players are told by clubs that they’ll be banished from training and won’t play again so it would be best they were sold – Chelsea is the perfect recent example – those players have now stood up and said that’s not right. Clubs can’t be doing that and they couldn’t get away with it in any other industry.

I think that unless the PFA come out and say ‘we need to stop this practice and if you are at a professional football club and are surplus to requirements, that’s fine, but you still train with the first team until you are sold,’ and make it almost a dictat, then there might be a situation whereby a player says ‘this is restriction of trade, this is workplace bullying, and I’m going to sue the club.’

My preference would be that the PFA now step in, they sit down with the Premier League, the FA and the EFL, and they all put statements out next week saying the long standing and old practice of the bomb squad is now finished.

I think that that way, you also get to a position whereby players would get sold quicker because players wouldn’t dig their heels in and not turn up for training amongst other things.

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Video: Manchester City with a brutal response as they score three goals in 4 minutes to turn the game around

Mehdi Gokal — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 14:30:02 +0000

Manchester City have turned the game around in the span of 4 minutes to lead 3-1 after conceding an early goal.

Ipswich Town took a surprise lead inside in the 7th minute through Sammie Szmodics but the newly promoted side’s joy was short-lived as City came up with a brutal response.

Minutes after the goal, the home side were awarded a penalty which Erling Haaland scored expertly in the 12th minute.

Two minutes later, De Bruyne slotted the ball into an empty net after a poor mistake from the Ipswich keeper to turn the game around.

And 2 minutes later, City scored again, Haaland scoring his second. The De Bruyne played an excellent pass to the Norwegian who used his head to take the ball away from the keeper before firing it into the back of the net to make it 3-1!

What a response from the reigning champions! Watch the goals below:

Three goals in FOUR minutes turned the game around for Manchester City in the first half against Ipswich Town. #MyPLMorning

?: Peacock pic.twitter.com/szgtkPCihQ

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 24, 2024

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Video: Szmodics gives Ipswich Town a shock lead against Manchester City

Mehdi Gokal — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 14:25:55 +0000

Ipswich Town have stunned the Etihad by taking a surprise lead against defending Premier League champions Manchester City.

The goal came entirely against the run of play, as Ipswich hit City on a lightning-fast counterattack.

After City lost possession deep in the Ipswich half, the visitors pounced, quickly moving up the pitch and exposing City’s defense.

Delap expertly held up the play, waiting for support before laying the ball off to Johnson.

Johnson then spotted Szmodics making a run behind City’s backline.

The new Ipswich signing surged through on goal, unleashing a shot that Ederson managed to get a hand to, but couldn’t prevent from rolling over the line.

The goal has left the Etihad crowd in shock, with Ipswich now holding a lead against the champions.

Watch the goal below:

???????? GOAL | Manchester City 0-1 Ipswich | Szmodics

IPSWICH HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD!pic.twitter.com/CuVy9di4o5

— Tekkers Foot (@tekkersfoot) August 24, 2024

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Deal for Chelsea forward set to collapse after signing club have last minute doubts

Andrew Walker — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 10:19:52 +0000

Armando Broja’s move to Ipswich Town is reportedly at risk of collapse.

The Albania international is one of several Chelsea players facing a late Stamford Bridge exit.

Ruled out for the majority of the 2022-23 season after suffering a cruciate ligament tear, Broja, 22, was forced to accept a loan move to Fulham last season.

His time at Craven Cottage did not go as he hoped though. The forward managed just one assist in eight games in all competitions.

Armando Broja facing uncertain future as Ipswich loan on brink of collapse

And now back at Chelsea but set to play no part in Enzo Maresca’s plans, Broja had become an attainable transfer option for Kieran McKenna’s newly promoted Ipswich Town.

Armando Broja in action for Chelsea.

However, according to a recent report from the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg, the 22-year-old’s switch to Portman Road Stadium is on the brink of collapse with the Tractor Boys having some late second thoughts.

A lot of people putting two and two together but paperwork issues are nothing to do with anything at Chelsea’s end. Simply unlikely to be a final agreement between Ipswich and Broja #cfc https://t.co/2kYk7JnFpZ

— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) August 24, 2024

Failure to secure a switch to Ipswich Town will leave Broja’s future desperately uncertain.

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Set to be excluded from the Blues’ first-team plans, the former Southampton loanee will be forced back into the market in search of a new club before next Friday’s transfer deadline.

The striker has four years left on his Chelsea contract.

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Transfer news: Chelsea talks, South American star pushing for Man Utd, Arsenal deal close & more

Fabrizio Romano — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 15:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive transfer news via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io

Raheem Sterling talks planned, plus other Chelsea exits

We’re heading towards the end of the window and many things are happening at Chelsea as always, with the Blues now very busy on outgoings. As we know, Conor Gallagher has been announced as a new Atletico Madrid player, with Joao Felix heading in the opposite direction, it’s all official now.

As well as that, Armando Broja to Ipswich Town is done – it’s a loan with an obligation to buy clause, which is there in case Ipswich manage to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season. The overall package is worth more than £30m, from what I’m hearing, so this is the agreement, with Broja saying yes to the move and having his medical with the club yesterday.

I’m also told that Chelsea are now very close to selling Romelu Lukaku. The agreement is very close with Napoli, and all parties now believe that the deal will be done. Lukaku has already agreed a three-year contract with Napoli, whose director will be in London to close the deal. There will be a new round of talks in London very soon this week, and the expectation is for Lukaku to become a Napoli player.

We also know that Chelsea have a lot of work to do to clarify the situations of other players, such as Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah and Carney Chukwuemeka. Sterling has been linked with the likes of Juventus and Aston Villa, but despite rumours, there are no specific clubs to mention yet, but Sterling’s camp is exploring options as he will leave Chelsea. The decision is clear after talking to Maresca, so Sterling is leaving and it’s over with Chelsea. Negotiations will follow in the next days with several possibilities.

Arsenal relaxed over Merino transfer and another agreement in place

The expectation remains for the Mikel Merino deal to happen, it’s just about working on the details of the deal, with Arsenal very relaxed and confident. As well as that, we could see some players leave Arsenal before the end of the window, such as Eddie Nketiah and Aaron Ramsdale.

With Nketiah, we know Nottingham Forest are interested. However, Forest have also shown an interest in Santiago Gimenez – their bid has been rejected by Feyenoord, €26m plus add-ons was still not enough. Forest have advanced in talks with Arsenal and also with Nketiah as he’s accepted the proposal on contract. Forest remain attentive to Gimenez situation but as of last night, Nketiah is the favourite striker option for them.

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah could be set to join Nottingham Forest

There have been many rumours about Ramsdale, but he has several possibilities. One of those is Bournemouth because they will not be signing Giorgi Mamardashvili anymore as part of the Liverpool-Valencia deal. Bournemouth are continuing to look for a new goalkeeper and Ramsdale is an option.

Wolves could also be one to watch as they’re keeping a close eye on the situation of Ramsdale, but as of today Arsenal are rejecting all loan proposals as they only want a permanent transfer or a loan with obligation. Let’s see if they will find a solution, but the overall feeling from sources in the industry is that Ramsdale will leave Arsenal before the end of the summer transfer window.

Arsenal already have an agreement with Joan Garcia to replace Ramsdale if he leaves. The Espanyol goalkeeper, 23, won the Olympics final with Spain this summer, and he has an agreement on a contract with Arsenal. Now it’s down to a club-to-club agreement, but that’s not going to be a problem from what I’m hearing, so when Ramsdale leaves they will be ready with an official bid for Garcia, this is the idea.

Finally on Arsenal, there have been some headlines again about Mikel Arteta and a new contract. I’m still on the same position that I mentioned in June, which is that I fully expect Arteta to sign a new deal at Arsenal. My info in June was clear, he wants to stay and Arsenal are super happy with him. The plan is absolutely to continue together with a new deal.

Latest on Liverpool’s new goalkeeper and a big potential sale

As I said above, Giorgi Mamardashvili is no longer going to Bournemouth, with the idea being that Liverpool could sign him before he then goes back on loan to Valencia until summer 2025. Mamardashvili has already said yes to Liverpool, and yes to the possibility of staying at Valencia on loan, so it’s close.

The clubs are now trying to complete the final details of the deal, with Alisson to stay as the Liverpool number one for this season. There is still some work to do, but Mamardashvili is close to Liverpool and there is optimism to make it happen.

Meanwhile, Sepp van den Berg is set to leave Liverpool. It will be more than Liverpool expected as they looked for a fee of £20m, but they had several proposals and so they will make £25m for Van den Berg. Brentford and Bayer Leverkusen are both pushing, so let’s see what happens there, but for sure one more outgoing is imminent for Liverpool.

Truth about Ederson and Eriksen transfer situations

Many people have been asking me about Ederson to Manchester United rumours in the last 24 hours. However, as I’ve always been saying, Manuel Ugarte is their top target in midfield and the full focus is on that deal. Man United remain optimistic on Ugarte and they are working on that deal, it could be a loan with obligation from Paris Saint-Germain.

So, it’s progressing well and Ugarte wants to go to Manchester United, he has an agreement and is pushing like crazy to get his move to Old Trafford. Other names like Ederson may have been linked, but the full focus is on Ugarte and also Atalanta don’t want to sell Ederson anyway.

We’re also hearing some speculation about outgoings at United, like with Christian Eriksen. Despite some talk of a return to Ajax, I have no concrete updates on Eriksen so far. We’ve had many rumours but the reality is that Man United have still no proposals on the table, so let’s see what happens in the next few days, but it’s quiet now.

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