Former Ipswich Town youngster Tawanda Chirewa has returned to Premier League rivals Wolves after his loan spell at Derby County was cut short.
The 21-year-old attacking midfielder moved to Pride Park on a season-long deal last summer but made just six appearances in all competitions for the Rams.
Chirewa returns to Molineux after the Championship side exercised their right to terminate the loan agreement this month.
He suffered what manager Paul Warne described as a ‘freak’ injury, when he picked up a calf problem in October, but returned to action at the end of 2024.
As part of the deal that saw Liam Delap depart the Etihad Stadium for Ipswich last summer, Manchester City has a sizable buy-back clause on him.
After three consecutive loan stints last summer, Delap ended his affiliation with the defending Premier League champions.
He turned down a lot of attention from players throughout the league to sign a deal worth up to £20 million to join Ipswich, a recently promoted Premier League team.
In late August, the Manchester City Academy graduate scored his first goal for Kieran McKenna’s team.
He then went on to score both goals in a 2–2 home tie with Aston Villa, becoming the first player from Ipswich to score twice in a Premier League match since 2002.
Jack Gaughan of MailSport has confirmed that last summer, Manchester City officials were able to add a buy-back clause—rumoured to be worth more than £30 million—to Liam Delap’s contract with Ipswich Town.
Omar Marmoush, an Egypt international and Eintracht Frankfurt player, is expected to sign a €75 million contract to join the Premier League powerhouses in the coming days, putting City on the verge of adding players to their forward positions this month.
During a recent news conference, Pep Guardiola expressed his admiration for Delap and stated that everyone at Manchester City is pleased to see the young striker making such strides at Portman Road under Kieran McKenna.
“He’s doing fantastically! At a recent press conference, Delap stated, “A lot of players come from the academy, and they are set up perfectly in the Premier League.”
Ipswich Town host Brighton & Hove Albion at Portman Road on Thursday
Ipswich Town are 18th in the Premier League table, and they are one of the favourites to go down this season, although they will hope to start turning the tide vs Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday evening.
The Tractor Boys need to start picking up points if they want to preserve their status as a top-flight club next season. They are coming into this game on the back of a win and a draw in their last two outings. Ipswich Town picked up an impressive win over Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup as well.
The home side will certainly have some confidence coming into this contest, and it remains to be seen whether they can grind out a positive result in front of their fans. Meanwhile, Brighton & Hove Albion are 11th in the league table. The Seagulls are winless in their last six league matches, and they will be desperate to bounce back strongly.
Fabian Hurzeler’s men have drawn five of the last six Premier League matches. Although Brighton have been difficult to beat, they need to start picking up wins. The away side will not want to continue dropping points, and they will certainly fancy their chances against a side fighting for survival. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the upcoming meeting.0:00
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Ipswich Town will be without Omari Hutchinson due to a groin injury. Samuel Szomodics has an ankle injury, Chiedozie Ogbene misses out with a calf injury, Axel Tuanzebe is unavailable due to a hand injury, and Conor Chaplin has a knee issue.
The home side will shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Arijanet Muric in goal. Ben Johnson and Leif Davis will start as the full-backs here, and they will look to keep things tight defensively and hit Brighton on the break. Luke Woolfenden and Dara O’Shea will pair up at the heart of the defence.
As for the midfield unit, Samy Morsy and Jens Cajuste will start in the double pivot, and they will look to win the ball back for their side and break up opposition attacks. Nathan Broadhead and Jack Clarke will add pace and flair from the flanks.
Wes Burns will start in the attacking midfield role, and he will look to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates, with Liam Delap leading the line for Ipswich Town vs Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday.
Brighton & Hove Albion will be without James Milner due to a thigh injury, Igor Julio due to a thigh injury, Mats Wieffer due to a thigh injury, Diego Gomez due to fatigue, and Even Ferguson due to an ankle injury. Jack Hinshelwood and Ferdi Kadioglu will miss out through knee and ankle injuries, respectively.
Brighton will shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation vs Ipswich Town, with Bart Verbruggen in goal. Tariq Lamptey and Pervis Estupinan will start as the full-backs. They will look to contribute at both ends of the pitch. Jan Paul van Hecke will form the central defensive pairing alongside Lewis Dunk.
As for the midfield unit, Yasin Ayari and Carlos Baleba will look to protect the defensive unit and break down the opposition’s attacking moves. Julio Enciso will start as the attacking midfielder, and he will look to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates.
Simon Adingra and Kaoru Mitoma will start in the wide areas, with Joao Pedro leading the line for Brighton & Hove Albion vs Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Thursday evening.
Brighton & Hove Albion have drawn their last four matches in the Premier League.
Ipswich Town have drawn their last three matches vs Brighton & Hove Albion in all competitions.
13 goals have been scored in the last six matches between these two sides.
Brighton are unbeaten in five of their last six meetings against Ipswich.
Ipswich are winless in four of their last six Premier League matches.
Player to Watch
Carlos Baleba
The talented young defensive midfielder is our key player to watch out for. Baleba has been outstanding in the middle of the park for Brighton, and he will help shield the back four and break down the opposition’s attacking moves. The Seagulls will need him to disrupt the Ipswich attack and keep them organised at the back. His presence will allow the attacking players to operate with more freedom as well.
Prediction
Ipswich Town 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Both teams will be desperate for all three points here, and this is likely to be a close contest. Brighton have been very difficult to beat in recent weeks, and they will look to make life difficult for the home team here as well. The Seagulls have been solid at the back, and they are likely to get something out of this contest.
It will be hard to separate the two teams here, and they are likely to cancel each other out. Ipswich Town and Brighton & Hove Albion are likely to share the spoils in a draw. The Hard Tackle predicts a 1-1 stalemate for Thursday’s game.
Albion spent more than £200m in the previous window but remain in the market for a central defender.
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The return to form and fitness of Adam Webster has boosted Albion’s rearguard, while skipper Lewis Dunk also returned from his latest calf injury at Ipswich last Thursday and is in contention to start against Manchester United.
Brighton’s German head coach Fabian Hurzeler is open to loan moves for Evan Ferguson and Julio Enciso
But the season-ending injury to Igor Julio leaves boss Fabian Hurzeler short of options and it’s something the club are keen to address.
It is though likely to be quiet on the arrivals front and the priority for Hurzeler could be to reduce the size of the squad, with some of the fringe players perhaps eyeing their next move.
Decisions need to be made on the likes of Tariq Lamptey and Jakub Moder, who are both out of contract this summer and this month will be the last chance the club have of receiving fees for them.
The immediate futures of attackers Evan Ferguson and Julio Encisio also has to be resolved in the coming days, with a number of clubs linked with the Brighton talents.
Here’s the current state of play for Brighton’s transfer window…
Vitor Ries: The Seagulls worked extremely hard to close this deal but were scuppered at the last minute by Manchester City. Brighton’s final bid for the 18-year-old Brazilian defender was thought to be around £25m but Palmeiras accepted an improved offer of around £30m from City.
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Ries is tipped as the next great Brazilian defender and has been compared with the likes of former Chelsea man Thiago Silva. Brighton are still in the market for a centre back and will likely have a plan B up their sleeve for this window, or the summer.
Brighton currently have fit-again Dunk, Webster and Jan Paul van Hecke as their main centre backs, with emerging talent Ruairi McConville, who made his debut in the FA Cup win at Norwich last weekend, waiting in the wings. Brazilian defender Igor is out for the season with a hamstring injury sustained in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal.
Evan Ferguson: The Ireland international striker has probably been linked with every Premier League club throughout this transfer window, along with Celtic, Rangers, Juventus and teams from the Bundesliga. Ferguson is currently struggling with another ankle injury but may still seek a loan move away this month in search of regular first team football.
“Former Ireland boss Brian Kerr believes West Ham is a good option for him. “You could see him at West Ham. He needs to go where there aren’t three or four [strikers]. There is Danny Ings – they haven’t been confident enough in Ings. I’m sure [Brighton] know that too,” said Kerr.
He’s so far made just two top flight starts for Fabian Hurzeler’s team. “We will negotiate what is important for him, what is important for his development, where he can improve the best and then we will make the decision together,” Hurzeler said on Ferguson’s future.
Julio Enciso: The Paraguay playmaker could also seek a loan move this month, with Ipswich Town the latest club credited with interest. Enciso has made two Premier League starts this term but performed well in the FA Cup victory at Norwich last week, scoring the third goal.
Hurzeler seemed open to a loan this month. “We are really happy to have him here, but we always have to negotiate what is the best individual development for the player.” Leicester City are also said to be tracking the situation.
Tariq Lamptey: Brighton have a big decision to make on the former Chelsea man as his contract ticks down. Lamptey is below the reliable right back Joel Veltman in the pecking order and has made four starts this term. He was particularly impressive as he scored during the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa but has not featured since.
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Brighton will not want to lose him for the second half of the season but it’s also unclear at this stage if the club will offer him a new deal, or indeed if he wants to stay at Brighton. Wolves, Fulham and Sporting Lisbon have all been linked with the flying full back and any half-decent bid this month would really test Brighton’s resolve.
Jakub Moder: The Poland international has clocked up nine minutes of Premier League action this term from four substitute appearances. The 26-year-old, who is now fully recovered from a serious ACL injury, was reportedly offered a new three-and-a-half year deal but is said to be keen on a move to Feyenoord, who already have Brighton’s Ibrahim Osman on a season loan.
The Dutch club have reportedly offered around £1.2m for the player who joined the Seagulls for around £7m from Lech Poznan in 2020. Moder almost joined Leicester last summer and the Premier League strugglers are also said to be keen to rekindle that deal.
In summary: when fit, Brighton’s squad is probably a touch too big and the priority will be outgoings rather than incomings for the remainder of this window – with Moder, Ferguson, Lamptey and Enciso the most likely candidates.
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Brighton are yet to the see the best of their summer arrivals as injuries have prevented the likes of Yankuba Minteh, Brajan Gruda, Ferdi Kadioglu, Mats Wieffer and Matt Oriely from reaching top form.
Liam Delap may have been unable to break out of Erling Haaland’s shadow at Manchester City but he has the chance to eclipse the prolific Norwegian this weekend.
The City Academy graduate has impressed since swapping the Etihad Stadium for Ipswich last summer, scoring eight goals so far this season as the Tractor Boys try to establish themselves in the Premier League.
The 21-year-old moved on having realised he was unlikely to supplant Haaland as Pep Guardiola’s first-choice centre-forward.
Erling Haaland waves to the crowd
Delap had limited opportunities at City because of the presence of Haaland
Haaland’s remarkable output – 111 goals in 126 appearances for City – was rewarded with a suitably extraordinary new contract on Friday, with the former Borussia Dortmund frontman signing a nine-and-a-half-year deal worth a reported £500,000 per week.
Delap, who made six first-team appearances at City, will come up against his old club on Sunday as the champions travel to Portman Road.
With City faltering this term and falling well off the pace in their pursuit of a fifth successive title, Ipswich and Delap may fancy their chances as they battle for top-flight survival.
“He’s doing really well,” said City manager Guardiola. “So many players have come up from this academy and they have settled perfectly in the Premier League.
“When he was here, we always thought he was a typical striker for the Premier League and he’s doing really well. We are happy for him.”
Manchester City’s Phil Foden celebrates scoring a goal by running towards the corner
Foden struck twice in the midweek draw at Brentford
City’s latest stumble came on Tuesday as they surrendered a two-goal lead in the last eight minutes to draw 2-2 at Brentford.
One positive to come from the game, however, was the performance of England international Phil Foden, who scored both of City’s goals.
City’s player of the year last season has endured a difficult campaign, with fitness issues in the autumn having prevented him building any momentum.
Guardiola hopes the corner has now been turned for the 24-year-old.
“Phil’s not bad with what he’s doing,” Guardiola said. “Lately, I feel his mood (is good), when he smiles and he arrives and talks and whatever. We have to be calm.
“In the first part of the year, I was a little bit more concerned. (There were) some niggles, he was a little bit more concerned about his condition, a little bit more down.
Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Phil Foden on the touchline
Guardiola
“Still, he’s a young player. He has already experienced many things in many years, but sometimes you need to breathe and you need to come back.
“In this mood, that happened in the last three weeks, one month. His natural talent will do the rest.”
City could still be without central defenders John Stones and Ruben Dias and it remains to be seen if captain Kyle Walker, having asked to leave the club, is involved. The veteran right-back has been left out for the last two games.
On Sunday, Manchester City will play Ipswich Town at Portman Road in Premier League action.
The team led by Pep Guardiola will go into the contest having gone five games without losing.
Despite this, they drew with Brentford in their most recent game, 2 all. At the GTech Community Stadium, Manchester City’s midfield did seem to be lacking legs in the closing moments of the game as they played to a 2-all draw. It might be time for Pep Guardiola to start Jack Grealish in midfield at Portman Road given what happened against Brentford.
Pep Guardiola has mostly depended on Bernardo Silva, Kevin De, Mateo Kovacic, and Ilkay Gundogan in midfield after Rodri suffered a season-ending injury. Phil Foden occasionally moves toward the center as well.
Pep Guardiola started Kevin De Bruyne, Mateo Kovacic, and Bernardo Silva in midfield against Brentford. During that game, Foden also drifted centrally.
However, as we’ve witnessed so frequently this season, Manchester City’s midfield was consistently caught out due to a lack of stamina and energy.
That was particularly noticeable in the last moments of the game. That’s where Jack Grealish may make a difference on Sunday against Ipswich Town.
This season, Grealish has occasionally been seen playing in midfield. He was very good in Manchester City’s early December 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad.
That evening, the England international gave City’s midfield play a new dimension.
Against Forest, his ability to play in the midfield pockets was particularly noteworthy.
Another asset to City’s midfield at the time was Grealish’s defensive comeback ability. On Sunday, those qualities could and ought to be used against Ipswich Town. Against Ipswich Town, it might be just what City’s midfield needs.
Despite signing a season-long contract with Pride Park in summer, the 21-year-old offensive midfielder only made six appearances for the Rams across all competitions.
After the Championship team used their right to end the loan arrangement this month, Chirewa is back at Molineux.
In September 2023, after declining a new contract at Portman Road, the Zimbabwean international departed the Blues to join Wolves.
The attacker played four games during his time in Suffolk, and Town was paid a compensation money.
Chirewa has made eight appearances in the Premier League since making his debut for Wolves in January of last year.
Ipswich DJ and former club owner on decline of nightclubs in town
Revellers queuing for entry to Liquid in Cardinal Park and in Yates bar in Tower Street both from 1999. (Image: Archant)
A top local DJ and former club owner who has been involved in Ipswich nightlife since 1986 has blamed a “perfect storm” for a decline of nightclubs in the town.
Neal John, who previously owned Sound Academy in Arcade Street, said that 1999 was the peak year for nightclubs with around 15,000 people going out every weekend in the town compared to an estimated 1,500 today.
Mr John, who also DJed in Hollywood’s in Princes Street, Liberty’s in Tacket Street and Yates in Tower Street amongst others, said that the introduction of the indoor smoking ban in 2007 had been a blow to the industry as, unlike bars and pubs, clubs were largely unable to develop outdoor smoking areas.
He said: “The last really good year of nightclubs we reckon was 99. The first thing that really changed everything was the smoking ban. We instantly saw the damage that it did.”
Mr John who spent time DJing in Ibiza and Ayia Napa added that changes in licensing laws had allowed a large number of bars to effectively become nightclubs a process he describes as “diluting the whole pond” particularly when licensing hours were relaxed.
“Then they delicensed all the licensing laws so then what happened was instead of going to a magistrates court like I did to get an alcohol license you went down to the local council.
“That was all well and good, but it meant that everyone and his brother could go to the council and say I want to open a bar.
“You then had the explosion of bars and then all the bars suddenly became nightclubs.”
According to Mr John the negative reputation that Ipswich clubs obtained for violence following a murder at Kartouche in 2000 and the another at its rebranded successor Zest in 2006 had an impact.
He also cites the increasingly negative reputation that garage music obtained also had an impact during his tenure at Sound Academy.
Although he did add that the problem was sometimes exaggerated through social media.
“It’s very difficult to have a good time in a nightclub when you’ve got a gang of 15 to 20 blokes who all live together, work together and fight together.
“We had to say no groups of blokes which caused problems as blokes would latch on to random girls to get in.”
“We got a visit from the police and the police said we don’t want you playing garage music anymore because it was bringing nonlocals from London.”
Mr John also argued that DJing has lost their unique individual appeal over the last 25 years as DJs all now have access to all of the same music.
“As DJs we were playing vinyl up to 2000 then the CDs started to take over, so the record companies stopped sending me vinyl’s and not long afterwards they went down the MP3 route.
“So suddenly all of the DJS had all of the music. I didn’t have music that was different to the bloke who was doing Hollywood’s or Liberty’s.”
Mr John also added that the price of alcohol, social media, dating apps and the “atrocious” state of Ipswich town centre were all key factors in the decline.
He also added that the covid pandemic had made the decline of nightclubs “more acute” and had “reinforced staying at home” particularly for a generation of young people.
However, Mr John heaped praise on Bar 21 in St Nicholas St for going against the trend adding the venue would probably be the “last bar standing” in Ipswich.
Stoke City faithful will disagree with Ipswich Town, Swansea City over January import
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Bersant Celina was a hit at both Swansea City and Ipswich Town in his time in the EFL, but his spell at Stoke City was a failure for all parties involved, and the Potters will not want to repeat a similar deal this month as they hunt for additions to their wide forward areas.
Celina’s time in England began at Manchester City, where he rose through the youth ranks to make four appearances for the Citizens’ senior side in 2015/2016, before going on to impress on loan at Dutch side FC Twente in the 2016/17 season.
His first domestic loan spell saw him impress at Championship outfit Ipswich Town in the next campaign, before a permanent move away from Manchester to join fellow second-tier side Swansea City in 2018 for a fee in the region of £3m.
Two decent seasons in South Wales meant the Kosovan earned a switch to Ligue 1 side Dijon FCO, but just a year later he was back at Ipswich, then back in League One, and in January 2023 he made the loan move to Stoke, who needed to be added impetus in attack under Alex Neil to try and stage a challenge to finish in the top-half.
Celina’s time in ST4 was marred by poor performances and lack of fitness, despite supporters and boss Neil expecting great things considering his impressive spells at Ipswich and Swansea, and he has certainly gone down as one of the club’s least impressive loanees in recent times in the years since.
Celina’s first loan spell at Ipswich saw him score eight goals in 40 appearances, as he won the club’s Goal of the Season award for an impressive long-range effort against Leeds United.
He then moved to Swansea and won yet another Goal of the Season award for finishing off an impressive team goal against former club Manchester City, then helped Steve Cooper’s side finish sixth in the 2019/20 campaign before a return to the Tractor Boys in 2021 saw him become one of the standout players in the third-tier.
With that in mind, Stoke supporters had every right to be excited by his loan capture midway through the 2022/23 campaign, especially as the Kosovan was adamant upon joining that he was “very fit and ready to go” to help the Potters improve their inconsistent league form.
Celina made two successive starts upon arriving at the club, with nearly two full 90 minute games against Stevenage in the FA Cup and then Luton Town in the Championship, but was soon reduced to a bench role, and his lack of fitness saw him make just two appearances in the next nine games, while he was not even named in the matchday squad on the other seven occasions.
The then-26-year-old revealed to BBC Radio Stoke, via StokeonTrentLive, that he had missed out so often due to being unable to move for a week due to fever, but his time at the bet365 Stadium was pretty much over before it had even begun, as Neil’s side found some good form in March, and he found game-time increasingly hard to come by.
Celina played just three times in the final eight games of the season for Stoke, with no goals or assists to his name, and then was dropped from the squad for the last two outings of the campaign against QPR and Watford, with his time at the club highly unlikely to be extended beyond his loan spell.
He soon returned to France at the end of the season after a real lack of any impact in the Potteries, which saw the excitement around his loan move become very short-lived, and the Kosovan unable to replicate the previous form that he had shown at Swansea and Ipswich.
Fast-forward to the present day, and Stoke have had a turbulent season so far, as they are now on their third manager or head-coach of this campaign under Mark Robins, who is sure to want to put his own stamp on his playing squad in the coming weeks and months to give his side the best chance of success going forward.
Attacking reinforcements are likely to be high on the list of Robins’ priorities this month, given that the Potters have been very reliant on Tom Cannon’s goals and star winger Million Manhoef is still sidelined through injury.
Stoke are pretty thin out wide as it stands due to Manhoef’s injury, with both Lewis Koumas and Bae Jun-ho relied on to start nearly every game in recent months due to Andre Vidigal being out-of-favour under all three Potters bosses so far this term.
Injury-plagued Sam Gallagher has also featured on the wing since his summer arrival from Blackburn Rovers, as has versatile full-back Lynden Gooch, but the Potters need to add much more output from wide areas to complement the goals of Leicester loanee Cannon, while Manhoef is likely out for another two months.
Stoke are almost certainly likely to look to the transfer market to bolster their wing options for the rest of the season ahead, and while a loanee that has previous Championship experience would make a lot of sense to bring in, they have to avoid a similar deal to that of Celina this month.
McKenna: Philogene in Squad, Tuanzebe and Szmodics Not Far From Return – Ipswich Town News
McKenna: Philogene in Squad, Tuanzebe and Szmodics Not Far From Return Saturday, 18th Jan 2025 06:00
Town boss Kieran McKenna says new signing Jaden Philogene will be in the squad for Sunday’s home game with Manchester City, despite having had a back problem, while Axel Tuanzebe and Sammie Szmodics are both close returns following their injuries.
Philogene, 22, whose lengthy move from Aston Villa was finally completed on Wednesday evening, made only four starts and 11 sub appearances for the Villans following his summer switch from Hull City, the most recent 31 minutes from the bench against Southampton at the start of December, and has also had a minor fitness issue.
Asked whether the England U21 international will be ready to be involved against Manchester City on Sunday, McKenna said that would be determined over the weekend.
“We’ll decide that over the next 24/48 hours,” the Blues boss said following the 2-0 defeat to Brighton. “He’s missed a little bit of training because he had a knock on his back as well over the last week, but he’s OK now.
“He trained today [Thursday] just by himself this afternoon, he’ll train with the group for the first time [on Friday]. He’s a naturally very fit lad as well, so that will help.
“He’ll be in the squad on Sunday. How many minutes we use him for, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Omari Hutchinson was a surprise starter against the Seagulls following his groin problem and McKenna says how the former Chelsea man came through Thursday’s match will also be evaluated.
“Again, we’ll have to judge it,” he said. “He does tend to recover really well, Omari, so he’d recovered well from the little strain that he had and felt really confident and he felt fine in the game. Of course, he’ll have to be assessed over the next 24 hours to see how he is for Sunday.”
Defender Axel Tuanzebe is nearing a return following his hamstring injury but McKenna says the DR Congo international is more likely to be available for the trip to Liverpool next week rather than this weekend.
“We’ll have to, again, assess it in the next 24 hours,” he continued. “It’s probably going to be too soon, but it’s going to be a fairly close call, so that’s good news. He’s not to far away, but we think this Sunday will possibly come too soon.”
There has also been good news on Sammie Szmodics, who hurt his ankle at Fulham a fortnight ago, with the forward also nearing a return.
“He had a scan on his ankle and he’s not too bad,” McKenna said. “He’s not trained with the group or anything like that yet, but he’s not to far from it. We’ll see how he is in the next few days.”
Town will be without Kalvin Phillips on Sunday with the England international ineligible against his parent club, while Conor Chaplin (knee) and Chiedozie Ogbene (achilles) remain sidelined.
