Ipswich Town have enquired to Premier League side Fulham about potentially signing young centre-forward Jay Stansfield on loan in January, according to the East Anglian Daily Times.
The Tractor Boys are five games unbeaten in the Championship, having picked up 13 points from a possible 15 and keeping pressure on league leaders Leicester City ahead of the two clubs’ Boxing Days meeting at Portman Road which could have massive repercussions in the title race.
Ipswich Town are also the highest goalscorers in England’s second tier this season, having scored 47 goals in 22 matches which is an average of 2.1 goals per game. Additionally, Kieran McKenna’s side have had 14 different goalscorers in all competitions.
Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead are currently heading Ipswich’s goalscoring charts, having bagged eight goals apiece, with George Hirst trailing closely behind on six, but the striker has recorded seven assists too.
Nevertheless, McKenna is looking to add even more goals to his squad ahead of the second half of the campaign. The East Anglian Daily Times are reporting that Ipswich are looking to sign Fulham striker Jay Stansfield this winter.
Stansfield is currently on loan at Birmingham City, where he has scored five goals in 20 games for the Midlands club despite the team struggling ever since Wayne Rooney took over back in October.
However, Ipswich are not looking for a temporary move and want to sign the 22-year-old permanently. The report even claims that the East Anglian club are willing to exceed their £3 million winter transfer budget.
Football Transfers have placed the young frontman’s market value at £2.2 million but Stansfield still has a contract until 2027 with the option to extend his deal by a further year, so Ipswich may have to cough up a little more than that.
Writer’s View
Stansfield has scored 53 goals in in 116 games in all competitions since the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign, which includes 15 goals in 67 appearances in men’s football across loan spells at his boyhood club Exeter City and now with Birmingham City.
The young striker is moving up in the world and a move to Ipswich Town could be his route to regular first-team football in the Premier League next season. However, given Fulham gave him such a large contract, they rate Stansfield highly and so a sale seems unlikely.
Deputy Head of Writing
