Ben Godfrey, Ipswich Town’s first signing of the January transfer window, has worked under some excellent manager.
Things haven’t worked out at parent club Atalanta, but he praised Gian Piero Gasperini for the intensity of his training sessions.
He also worked with Carlo Ancelotti at Everton. The 65-year-old is now at Real Madrid, where he’s won every single trophy available to him in convincing fashion, and Godfrey isn’t surprised to see how well he’s done with the Galacticos.
“He signed me from Norwich,” the 27-year-old recalled. “He’s a really relaxed character, he’s a great guy. His history and his awards speak for themselves as a player and a manager.
“It was great to work under him and, to be fair, that season [2020/21], we were doing well. I think his ideas worked really well in that season in the Premier League.
“Then he went to Real Madrid and I wish him all the
“I caught up with him in the UEFA Super Cup game the other month. He checks in and asks how my family are, things like that. He’s a top guy.”
As a result, the bar is high for Godfrey when it comes to managers. He’s had the pleasure of working with some of the best, and he seems confident that Town boss Kieran McKenna will join that list.
Before his loan move to Ipswich was confirmed, reports suggested that eight clubs were keen to sign him this month, but that talks with McKenna ultimately convinced him that Suffolk was the place for him to be.
“It was massive,” Godfrey said about the manager’s influence on his decision. “The times that I spoke to him, I felt the sense of being wanted. I knew that he’d be welcoming, and that’s a big thing in football, to be wanted. I think it does a lot for your confidence as a player.
“Then onto tactical things, he showed me what he’d expect from me and how he’d want me to play. Obviously I’d watched Ipswich, but he showed me clips and the patterns that we worked through. I just thought that, with the detail he went into, it’d be another step in the right direction for me in terms of improving as a player.
“You know his coaching history, he’s coached some great players. I’ve actually spoken to those players previously. They speak about him in a really positive way.
“As soon as I got off that call with him, I was speaking to my family and said that this is the place to be.”
It can’t have been an easy decision for Godfrey, especially with his links to Town’s arch-rivals, Norwich.
He spent four years at Carrow Road, having joined from York City in 2016. The Canaries gave him the platform to break into the first team and he subsequently went on to help them secure promotion to the Premier League.
For Godfrey, that spell is all in the past now, and his focus is solely on Ipswich.
“Quite a lot of players that I played with there have moved on,” he argued. “I met some great people.
“It’s well known that I was a Norwich player, but that’s football. Players move on and I’m an Ipswich Town player. My job here is to do my best for this club.”
It’s rare for a new arrival to have East Anglian derby experience, but that’s what Godfrey boasts, having featured in both games in the 2018/19 campaign. That was the season that saw Norwich win the Championship title while Ipswich were relegated to League One.
“The derby means a lot to people in this area of the country,” he stated. “I remember years ago that it was an exciting day to play in a derby game. They are the games that you want to play in, regardless of what team you play for. Derby days are always special.
“The first one I played in was at Portman Road, we drew 1-1. The second one, I think Norwich won at Carrow Road. Those were the two derbies I played in.
“They both had good atmospheres and were good days.”
This season has been tough for Godfrey, who’s hardly kicked a ball since joining Atalanta from Everton last season. His move to Italy was always going to be daunting, and unfortunately, his lack of minutes made it much harder for him to adapt.
“I think that the last six months for me have highlighted football, in the sense that it’s not all smooth,” he admitted. “Not everything, every day, can go your way. As an English lad, to be chucked abroad and for things not to work out, that’s deep water.
“You could say that I’ve been chucked in the deep end in that sense, although it was my choice to do that.
“I’ve definitely become more resilient. In circumstances where things aren’t going my way, I back myself to get through and continue pushing forward.”
Godfrey does have a strong grasp of Italian now, although he was working hard on his Spanish before making the move to Bergamo.
“I learnt it for absolutely no reason at all,” he laughed. “I don’t get to use it in Yorkshire much.
“I decided to learn it for just over a year and then ended up going to Italy, so I had to start again.”
Asked whether he was instead aiming for a move to La Liga last summer, Godfrey joked: “No, me and Ancelotti are in touch, but we’re not that tight.”
The defender worked under Carlo Ancelotti at Everton
Although sport runs in Godfrey’s family, there was never any guarantee that football would be the path for him.
“I have a background in Rugby League and I played rugby before football,” he revealed. “My dad played rugby and he always seems to get a mention in my interviews, which he’ll be buzzing about.
“Rugby League, my family are big fans. I was the wise one who made the good decision to go to football.”
Perhaps that experience in a physical, aggressive sport will be important. After all, he now has to come up against Liam Delap in training, which isn’t easy for any defender.
“He’s good,” Godfrey revealed. “He’s got a good footballing brain and has the physical attributes. He’s still young, he’ll tell you himself that he’s still learning, and I think the most important thing is that he’s still hungry to do that as well.
“He doesn’t walk around thinking that he’s the finished article. He’s obviously hit the ground running this season but he still wants more. I’m sure he’ll do that.”
Having made his debut in the 3-0 win against Bristol Rovers last weekend, Godfrey is now ready to kick on. He explains that he sees himself fitting in on the right side of Ipswich’s defence, but hopes that his versatility will help him maximise his minutes.
His squad number – 44 – certainly raises some eyebrows, taking it on from former fan favourite Janoi Donacien, who joined League Two side Chesterfield earlier this week. Why pick such a high number?
“22 and four were my favourite numbers, so it’s two fours and double 22,” he said. “It’s the closest thing I could get!”
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