Ipswich Town must regret Man City miss - Stoke City are laughing right now | OneFootball

Ipswich Town were interested in bringing Divin Mubama to the club this summer before Stoke City snapped him up on loan from Manchester City

Ipswich Town were linked with a summer move for Manchester City forward Divin Mubama before the forward decided to join Mark Robins' Stoke City on loan instead, where he is beginning to find his feet, leaving the Tractor Boys questioning whether not pursuing a deal was the right call.

Following relegation from the Premier League, Ipswich Town and head coach Kieran McKenna will have had their sights set on an immediate promotion back to the top flight.

The Northern Irish boss arrived at Portman Road in December 2021, whilst the club was still in League One, in what was his first role in senior management, having been a coach at both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United previously.

Ipswich were promoted back-to-back to earn a place in the Premier League for the 2024/25 season, but the jump proved to be too stark, and they were immediately relegated, with this summer proving to be a challenging one in terms of recruitment.

Club stalwarts Sam Morsy, Massimo Luongo, Cameron Burgess and Marcuss Harness all left, whilst the Tractor Boys collected lucrative fees for both Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap.

Delap, in particular, was a huge loss, having hit 12 goals and two assists in his debut top-flight season, and following his departure, McKenna set his sights on a replacement, with one of those being Manchester City's Divin Mubama.

Mubama had spent the vast majority of his career in the youth system of West Ham, where he was prolific for the Hammers in the Premier League 2 before his move to Manchester in the summer of 2024 following his contract expiry.

The English youth international continued to play youth football at City, unable to displace the robotic Erling Haaland, understandably, and was made available for loan or transfer this summer, should the right offer come in.

The reliable Fabrizio Romano shared via X that Ipswich were considering contacting the Citizens over the potential terms of a deal for Mubama, with French side Lille also interested, as Man City set their asking price at £10 million.

Instead, Ipswich pursued targets elsewhere and ultimately landed on Como's Ivan Azon, who has so far acted as a backup to George Hirst in the majority of games.

Hirst, 26, is in his third full season as an Ipswich player, and McKenna has chosen to rely on the former Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers man, whose faith has been rewarded with five goals and one assist in 12 league matches so far.

Mubama would join Stoke on loan for the season, and incidentally, he and Hirst share the same record at this stage, with Hirst managing the feat in one less game.

It's still early days into the season, but Mubama is looking like a real asset in Mark Robins' Stoke side.

The former West Ham youth prospect has led the line on 11 occasions so far in the Championship and has emerged as the favoured centre forward ahead of fellow summer signing Robert Bozenik.

At 20 years old, prior to this season, Mubama has never played a full season of senior football, but looking at his displays, you wouldn't have thought so.

Having bagged two in his opening two matches on loan, the England youth international went on a barren run in front of goal before last weekend, where he netted his first senior hat trick against Bristol City and grabbed an assist in a 5-1 thumping at the bet365 Stadium.

Mubama already looks like a handful at this level, and with Mark Robins' track record at developing strikers such as Viktor Gyokeres, the Englishman looks to be in an ideal place for his development.

Man City boss Pep Guardiola will be keeping a close eye on his progression moving forward and may be thankful that a sale wasn't sanctioned this summer.

Meanwhile, Ipswich may yet live to regret not taking the option to sign Mubama for £10 million when they had the chance, as if he carries on this trajectory this season, his value may turn out to be triple that by next summer, at which point Ipswich may not stand a chance at a purchase.