Brighton forward & out of favour midfielder can give Ipswich Town a dream start to January transfer window | OneFootball

Ipswich Town could look to shuffle their deck this January

Ipswich Town are fighting for a promotion place following a shaky start to their Championship season.

They have managed to stabilise nearer the top of the table now, but will need a huge push to battle the likes of Coventry City and Middlesbrough.

Thankfully for Kieran McKenna, January presents the perfect time for such a boost, with the transfer window opening at the turn of the year.

Here, Football League World, looks at two moves that could present the perfect start to the window for the Tractor Boys.

Charalampos Kostoulas

Ipswich have had few issues scoring so far this season, but it is notable that a considerable portion of their goals have come from widemen Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke.

The Portman Road outfit signed two loan strikers in the summer, with Chuba Akpom and Ivan Azon joining from Ajax and Como respectively.

While from exciting corners of the European footballing landscape, neither have posed a true threat to George Hirst’s starting berth.

If Ipswich are serious about challenging for promotion and battling the top teams, they will need more than one solid threat up front to rely on for the business end of the season; Akpom and Azon have not made a strong case for it being them, and you could argue that at least one of the pair may have their loan deals terminated if it's possible.

The Tractor Boys may need to get ruthless and send one of them back, and if they choose to do so, then Brighton’s Charalampos Kostoulas would be a strong replacement.

Brighton are known for their smart recruitment, and their latest exploration appears to be in Greece, with Stefanos Tzimas and Kostoulas two recent recruits.

Kostoulas only turned 18 this year, but is an exciting prospect with a handful of Premier League appearances to his name, along with his first Premier League goal against Manchester United.

He is, however, not getting consistent game time, even following the injury of Tzimas, with Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck both preferred.

While that's the case, it makes sense for the Seagulls to seek a loan for the Greek youngster, and where better than at the summit of England’s second tier?

The best thing for development is senior football, and Ipswich can offer more of that than Brighton as things stand, under a Premier League-experienced coach, with a club aiming to get back in top tier.

And for Ipswich, they’d get a stronger competitor for Hirst, and greater options heading into the tail end of the season, where they may have play-offs to contend with.

Cameron Humphreys

Much like Brighton with Kostoulas, Ipswich also have players they are looking to develop with limited opportunities arising in their own first team.

That is a situation that applies to midfielder Cameron Humphreys; seeking a loan for the 22-year-old would be perfect this January.

He spent last season out on loan in League One with Wycombe Wanderers, making 50 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals and providing six assists.

Given no loan was found in the summer, the Tractor Boys may have felt he had something to offer the senior squad this term, but it hasn’t quite panned out that way, with the Colchester-born youngster reduced to cameo appearances.

A loan for the second half of the season seems most sensible, to avoid him stagnating on the bench and with the youth team.

He has proven capable of performing at the top end of the third tier, so a move to a lower-end Championship side, the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Oxford United or Portsmouth, could prove fruitful.