Ipswich's Bold Approach to Premier League Return

Ipswich are not creeping back into the Premier League. They are kicking the door a little harder this time.

Chairman Mark Ashton has made the shift in tone plain enough. The club, he says, has to be “a bit braver” in its approach at the top level, and the profile of their transfer targets tells you he means it. Ipswich are no longer shopping cautiously on the fringes; they are chasing players who have felt the heat of a World Cup.

Japanese forward Daizen Maeda and Morocco centre-back Issa Diop, both on the scoresheet at this summer’s tournament, sit high on their list. A third World Cup goalscorer could yet join them. Julio Enciso, the Paraguayan forward who worked under Gary O’Neil at Strasbourg last season, is firmly in the frame.

Enciso is no stranger to Portman Road. His loan spell in the second half of the 2024-25 campaign never really caught fire, derailed by injuries just as he looked ready to impose himself. Ipswich, though, clearly saw enough in his brief flashes and in his World Cup impact to believe there is more to come. Bravery, in this context, means trusting your judgment, not the injury report.

The contrast with their last Premier League adventure is stark. When Kieran McKenna went up, he had the capital of back-to-back promotions and the time that comes with it. He could afford to think long-term, to grow into the division. O’Neil does not have that luxury.

“Two seasons ago, the club didn’t get anywhere near staying in the division and this time we need to do better,” he said last month. No dressing it up, no soft landing. Ipswich were miles off. That cannot happen again.

So O’Neil has gone global. “That’s why we’re trying to add quality to the squad from different parts of the world and we’re trying to add some different attributes,” he explained. Different attributes is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It means pace from wide areas, aggression on the front foot, defenders comfortable holding a high line, and forwards who do not flinch when the stakes rise.

The early signs of that shift surfaced in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano. Pre-season scorelines can flatter, but the manner of the performance mattered: sharper pressing, quicker transitions, a side that looked less like a plucky newcomer and more like a team intent on surviving on its own terms.

O’Neil did not hide behind the result. He used it as a platform. After the game he made it clear that Ipswich are not close to finished in the market, stating the “plan is to do quite a bit more”. The message to supporters and to the dressing room was the same: expect reinforcements, expect competition, expect standards to rise.

For a club that “didn’t get anywhere near” staying up last time, this is a necessary recalibration. The Premier League will not wait. Nor, this time, will Ipswich.