Fresh off securing their immediate return to the Premier League, Ipswich Town are already aggressively laying the groundwork for a heavy summer squad overhaul. Eager to avoid a repeat of their painful 2024/25 relegation, manager Kieran McKenna is determined to inject proven top-flight quality into his defensive ranks.
According to reports from French outlet Foot Sur 7, the Tractor Boys have entered the race alongside Southampton to sign Marseille’s 23-year-old English centre-back CJ Egan-Riley.
While Egan-Riley’s potential arrival signals a massive statement of intent for the Suffolk outfit, it spells disastrous news for fringe defender Elkan Baggott, whose future at Portman Road now looks entirely untenable.
Building on a Rock-Solid Foundation
Ipswich’s promotion charge was heavily anchored by a formidable defensive unit. With the likes of Jacob Greaves, Dara O’Shea, and Cédric Kipré—whose loan move was automatically made permanent upon promotion—McKenna masterminded the joint-second-best defensive record in the Championship, conceding just two more goals than champions Coventry City.
However, the step up to the Premier League is unforgiving. To bridge the gap, Ipswich are looking closely at Egan-Riley. The versatile defender was a vital cog in the Burnley side that won promotion from the Championship in 2025 before making a high-profile switch to Ligue 1 with Marseille. Despite an injury-plagued campaign in France restricting him to just 16 appearances this term, his tactical flexibility and British domestic pedigree make him a prime target for McKenna.
The Elkan Baggott Freeze-Out
While the optimism around Portman Road is sky-high, the current trajectory is a bitter pill to swallow for Indonesia international Elkan Baggott. The 23-year-old has endured a thoroughly frustrating campaign, managing a meager two senior appearances all season—both coming in the early rounds of the FA Cup.
Baggott has completely vanished from McKenna’s plans since a 1-0 cup defeat to Wrexham on February 13, spending the remainder of the promotion run-in as an unused substitute behind O’Shea, Greaves, and Kipré.
Having spent previous loan spells cutting his teeth at Blackpool, Bristol Rovers, and Cheltenham Town, Baggott had hoped Ipswich’s stint in the Championship would finally open the door to first-team minutes. Instead, he failed to play a single minute of league football.
Time to Push for an Exit
Baggott is currently under contract with the Tractor Boys until the summer of 2028, but the writing is securely on the wall. If Ipswich successfully fend off Southampton to land Egan-Riley, Baggott will drop even further down a cutthroat pecking order.
Remaining static at Portman Road through the upcoming Premier League campaign would be actively damaging to the young defender’s career development. For both parties, a permanent or loan exit this summer appears to be the only logical solution as Ipswich prepares to battle the elite of English football.
IPSWICH TOWN TRANSFER SNAPSHOT
- The Target: CJ Egan-Riley (Marseille / Ex-Burnley promotion winner).
- The Competition: Southampton.
- The Casualty: Elkan Baggott (Zero Championship minutes in 2025/26).
- The Objective: Strengthening a defense that kept two clean sheets in its final three promotion games.
