Exclusive: Ipswich Town plotting Watford FC transfer raid for €10m star | OneFootball

Imran Louza is on Kieran McKenna's radar as the final week of the transfer window approaches

Ipswich Town are eyeing up a transfer raid of a Championship rival in the final week of the transfer window in a bid to strengthen their promotion push, Football League World can exclusively reveal.

The Tractor Boys have got their act together after a slow start to the 2025-26 Championship season, where they have won four matches on the spin and lost just once in their previous 10 outings.

Kieran McKenna has found the winning formula once more, but with promotion still not a certainty, the Town head coach is looking to bolster his squad before the February 2 transfer deadline.

Ipswich Town eyeing ambitious raid for Watford FC star Imran Louza

And McKenna could do that by taking one of the Championship's best players of the 2025-26 season, as FLW understands that Ipswich are eyeing up a big move for Watford midfielder Imran Louza.

The Moroccan playmaker, who was signed by the Hornets in the summer of 2021 for around €10 million, is currently captaining the Hertfordshire outfit, and is having his most eye-catching season to date.

The 26-year-old has scored six times from midfield and registered a further six assists for Javi Gracia's side, whose own promotion push has taken a recent hit after back-to-back league matches without a win.

Now, Ipswich are looking to raid Vicarage Road to try and take Watford's talisman away from them, although it would appear that Gino Pozzo is in no desperation to cash in on Louza's services, given he is contracted to the club until June 2028, having signed an extended deal in September 2022, just over a year into his time in England.

Ipswich Town midfield depth could do with strengthening for big Championship run-in

Ipswich's engine room depth took a small hit earlier on in the transfer window when they loaned Cameron Humphreys out to Huddersfield Town, linking up with former Town first-team coach Lee Grant before he was sacked as the Terriers head coach last week.

Azor Matusiwa, Jens Cajuste and Jack Taylor have shared the workload in the double pivot at the heart of Ipswich's midfield all season, whilst summer signing Marcelino Nunez has more often than not featured in the number 10 role since his move across the East Anglian border from Norwich City.

That position isn't the weakest either, with Sammie Szmodics and Chuba Akpom both more-than capable of filling in in more attacking capacities, but as the likes of Coventry and Middlesbrough have already strengthened going into the final week of the window, Ipswich have somewhat stood still so far.

With 10 days left of the winter window though, the Suffolk outfit could be finally set to flex their financial muscles, with Watford's resolve set to be tested as a result.