It’s been a roller coaster few years for Ipswich Town, rising from the ashes of relegation to the third tier all the way back to the top flight for the first time in over two decades.
However, while there have been plenty of ups and downs for the Tractor Boys in recent memory, the club have signed and sold on several serious talents.
In fact, even though Ipswich have spent a considerable period outside the Premier League, they have made some sizable sales in recent years, including one star who became a European Champion.
Ipswich’s biggest sales
So, before we get onto the star in question who netted the club a massive profit before lifting a European title, let’s look at the two most significant sales in the club’s history.
The first is England international and Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings, who joined the Blues from non-league side Chippenham for £10k in December 2012.
Over the next two-and-a-half seasons, the Bath-born star would make 63 appearances for the then Championship side, mostly as a left-back, before being sold on to Bournemouth in July 2015 for a fee of around £8m, which led to a rather nice profit on the £10k he initially cost the club.
Just behind the 31-year-old on the list is a player who, unfortunately, hasn’t had quite as successful a career: Conor Wickham.
The Hereford-born poacher, who is currently without a team, came up through the ranks of the club’s academy, and between July 2009 and July 2011, scored 15 goals and provided four assists in 72 games for the Suffolk side before being sold to Sunderland for a fee also believed to be in the region of £8m at the time.
Unfortunately for Wickham, he never really found his footing at any of the clubs he went on to play for, unlike one of the club’s other greatest sales.
Aaron Cresswell’s sale
The player in question is veteran defender Aaron Cresswell, who joined Ipswich for free in the summer of 2011 from Tranmere Rovers.
However, because he was under 24 then, the club had to pay the Merseysiders compensation, which Transfermarkt claims to be around €275k, or about £229k.
Over the next few seasons, the Liverpool-born star would make a whopping 138 appearances for the Tractor Boys, in which he’d score seven goals and rack up a seriously impressive haul of 25 assists, meaning that he averaged a goal involvement once every 4.31 games during his time in blue.
|
Cresswell’s career |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Team |
Tranmere |
Ipswich |
West Ham |
|
Appearances |
80 |
138 |
353 |
|
Goals |
6 |
7 |
11 |
|
Assists |
7 |
25 |
37 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.16 |
0.23 |
0.13 |
Unsurprisingly, such impressive form eventually caught the attention of teams in the Premier League, and in July 2014, West Ham United brought the Englishman to East London in a deal that Transfermarkt claims was worth €4.75m, which converts to about £3.95m, or in other words, a massive 1624% increase on the fee he was signed for.
In the decade since, the 34-year-old has become something of a legend for the Hammers, making 353 appearances for the club, in which he has scored 11 goals, provided 37 assists, and, most importantly of all, played a vital role in the club’s Europa Conference League triumph in the 22/23 season, playing 517 minutes of action across seven games.
Ultimately, selling Cresswell to West Ham in 2014 worked out best for all parties, as Ipswich made a tidy profit, the Hammers picked up a loyal servant, and the player himself became a European Champion.
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