Ipswich Town told to forget dealing Coventry City a Carl Rushworth transfer blow | OneFootball

Ipswich Town have been urged to avoid the signing of Coventry City loanee Carl Rushworth from Brighton and Hove Albion.

Ipswich Town have put themselves in a tremendous position to join Coventry City in automatic promotion to the Premier League this season.

The Tractor Boys won the East Anglian Derby against Norwich City at the weekend by two goals to nil, lifting them two points clear of Millwall with a game-in-hand on the third-placed Lions.

Kieran McKenna’s side are well short of league leaders Coventry but it does look as though Town will secure a second promotion to the top-flight in three seasons; bouncing back from relegation at the first attempt.

A big reason for Coventry being so far clear at the top-of-the-table has been their defensive record with 16 clean sheets in 42 matches.

Their goalkeeper, Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Carl Rushworth, is now reportedly the subject of interest of Ipswich ahead of this summer in what shapes up to be a tense transfer tussle.

Ipswich urged to look away from Carl Rushworth

Since his move to the Coventry Building Society Arena last summer, Rushworth has established himself as one of the most exciting goalkeepers in the country with a very high ceiling.

Despite the impressive campaign of the 24-year-old shot stopper, FLW’s Ipswich Fan Pundit Adam Wilkin believes Town should look elsewhere for reinforcements in that position this summer, should they get promoted.

Adam says: “I don’t really understand the Carl Rushworth links.

“I get he’s a goalkeeper we’ve been looking at for a long time but I think he, as a Championship ‘keeper, no more solid than Christian Walton or Alex Palmer.

“He may be a slight upgrade on those but if you’re staying in the Championship then Walton and Palmer, as a pair, are as solid as you’re going to get and then if, as a promoted side you go up to the Premier League, then I don’t think he’s the sort of ‘keeper that you’ll be looking at.

“I think he’s young and got incredible potential but he’s not quite making the England squad yet so he’s fourth or fifth choice there and I think you want to be looking at Europa League ‘keepers.

“Both Sunderland (Robin Roefs) and Leeds (Lucas Perri) have made quality additions from abroad in that position. Burnley went down a different route and got (Martin) Dubravka in, who is an experienced Premier League ‘keeper, so I think if Town got promoted to the Premier League; Rushworth probably isn’t the first-choice goalkeeper you are looking for.”

Ipswich’s goalkeeping debate under Kieran McKenna

When Ipswich gained automatic promotion from League One in the 2022/23 season, it was another former Brighton youngster, Walton, who pinched the spot between the sticks, ahead of Vaclav Hladky, with the best defensive record in the division.

The following season saw Hladky pinch that spot back off Walton in the Championship as Town rose through the second-tier and into the Premier League.

The summer of 2024 saw the arrival of Arijanet Muric from Manchester City but the Kosovan ‘keeper struggled at Portman Road with Walton displacing him in the eleven before the signing of Alex Palmer.

This season, Palmer played the opening ten games before an injury saw him out of the squad, only to return to being second choice, back behind the in-form Walton.

It has been a bit of a merry-go-round between the sticks for Ipswich and McKenna. The signing of a certain, long-term ‘number one’, or at least identifying exactly who that will be moving forward, will be a priority this summer, regardless of the division that they find themselves in.