It’s been a hectic and incredibly tough start to life in the Premier League for Ipswich Town this season, but they are handling it brilliantly so far.
Kieran McKenna’s side were given possibly the most challenging opening fixtures of anyone in the league this year. To kick things off, they played a home game against Liverpool, followed by an away trip to Manchester City, just in case the fans forgot how tough the top-flight can be.
Understandably, the Tractor Boys didn’t pick up any points from those games, but they have since picked up a point against Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton, and most impressively, Aston Villa.
In all, things are looking good for McKenna’s side, and while they might not be full of household names, there are more than enough talented players in the squad who could keep them up this year, including Liam Delap.
Delap's start to the season
Delap cost Ipswich around £15m plus a further £5m in potential add-ons in July, and while that is a fairly significant amount of money for a young striker, it’s not unreasonable considering his 32-game stint with Hull City last season, in which he scored eight goals and provided two assists.
Moreover, in 55 games for City’s various junior sides, the Winchester-born poacher racked up a seriously impressive haul of 46 goals and 16 assists, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 0.88 games.
Now, while he isn’t going to recreate those sorts of numbers at Portman Road, the 21-year-old forward has got off to a flying start, finding the back of the net away to Fulham and twice in the draw at home to Champions League contending Villa.
It’s still very early in Delaps’s Ipswich career, but if he can maintain his current form of scoring a goal every 2.33 games or so, then not only will the club have a brilliant chance of staying up, but his valuation will surely exceed his fee as well. That said, the Englishman is not the only McKenna signing coming good this season.
Axel Tuanzebe's Ipswich career
Yes, the McKenna signing in question is former Manchester United ace Axel Tuanzebe, who joined the club on a free last September, just three months after leaving the Red Devils.
However, the once-capped Congolese international only signed a one-year deal, likely due to persistent injury problems that had limited him to just 90 first-team appearances at that point in his career, which for a then-25-year-old was more than a little concerning.
Unfortunately for the Bunia-born defender, despite his undeniable quality, fitness issues once again impacted him at the start of last season, and up until around late February, he played very few games for the club. However, once he eventually got into the side, he became the club’s first-choice right-back and made 21 appearances across all competitions.
Appearances
27
Points per Game
1.74
Goals
1
Assists
1
Goal Involvements per Match
0.07
In June, the newly promoted side confirmed that they had activated the option to extend the 26-year-old’s £40k-per-week contract for another year, and what a decision that has turned out to be.
In stark contrast to last season, the 6 foot 1 ace has played in and started all six of the Tractor Boys’ league fixtures so far, and though it’s been tough going at times, he has not looked out of his depth at this level.
For example, he was given an 8/10 rating for his performance against Villa by TNT Sports’ Paul Hassall, a 7/10 by the East Anglian Daily Times’ Alex Jones for his display against Fulham, and another 8/10 from Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz for the 0-0 draw with Brighton.
Ultimately, Tuanzebe is looking every bit like a Premier League player, and while Transfermarkt has him valued at just €3m – £2.5m – at the moment, that price will surely only increase if he can remain fit, and if he can, then he may well end up being just as crucial to Ipswich’s survival chances as Delap.
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