Ipswich hit gold with “unique” star

It’s been a frankly extraordinary few seasons for Ipswich Town.

The club appointed an inexperienced manager in Kieran McKenna, who has led them to back-to-back promotions, making it back into the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.

However, while much of the club’s recent success is down to the man management and tactical nous of the Northern Irishman, the players and brilliant transfers conducted in recent windows can’t be forgotten.

For example, in the summer of 2023, the Blues signed several exciting talents who have since become essential players for the club, including one star whose value has skyrocketed 120%.

Ipswich’s brilliant 2023 signings

So, before we get to the player whose value has more than doubled since joining the club, let’s take a look at a couple of other brilliant signings made in 2023, starting with a loan acquisition: Omari Hutchinson.

Yes, a year before he made a permanent £20m switch to Portman Road, the former Chelsea prospect joined McKenna’s revolution on a season-long loan and made quite the impression as his subsequent transfer would suggest.

In all, the Redhill-born talent made 50 appearances across all competitions, scoring 11 goals, providing six assists, and winning the club’s Young Player of the Year Award to boot.

However, the 20-year-old was not the only savvy pickup in 2023, as another player who arrived for nothing was former Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe, who joined on a free transfer in September.

The once-capped Congolese international was limited to just a handful of appearances for the first half of the season due to injury and fitness concerns, but once he was given a run of starts in February, his ability was impossible to deny.

By the end of the campaign, he was the club’s starting right-back, and while a thumb injury has seen him sidelined since October 4th, the Bunia-born gem started the first six league games of this season, showing that he can and likely will have a large part to play this year.

However, there was another exciting player the club signed and paid for last season that has just grabbed the headlines and has seen his valuation more than double.

George Hirst’s valuation in 2024

Yes, the player in question is English striker George Hirst, who joined Ipswich from Leicester City for about £1.5m in July 2023.

The Sheffield-born poacher impressed on loan with Portsmouth in the 2021/22 season, but with just two appearances for the Foxes, there were some question marks over how he would fare in the Championship, but to say he has exceeded expectations at Portman Road so far would be an understatement.

For example, while injuries limited the “unique” marksman, as dubbed by McKenna, to just 29 appearances for the club last season, he still managed to rack up a seriously impressive haul of seven goals and seven assists, meaning he maintained an average of a goal involvement once every 2.07 games.

Moreover, while knee surgery in the summer has limited his game time this season, the “powerful” 25-year-old, as dubbed by journalist Alan Biggs, looked brilliant on his first start against Brentford over the weekend, scoring and assisting a goal in the first half.

Unsurprisingly, these impressive performances for the Tractor Boys have seen the poacher’s valuation soar, with Transfermarkt now pricing him at €4m, which converts to around £3.3m, or 120% more than he cost the club just over a year ago.

Ultimately, Ipswich made several clever signings last summer, and while he might not be a household name at the moment, Hirst looks more than ready to make an impact in the Premier League this season.