Ipswich Town turned a £250k Rangers signing into £5m - look where he is now | OneFootball

Martyn Waghorn was signed and flipped for a hefty profit in the space of a year by Ipswich Town - now he's playing semi-professionally

Martyn Waghorn is one of the more underrated strikers in Championship history, contributing for sides in and around the play-offs throughout the majority of his time at the level.

The frontman emerged as one to watch during a loan spell at Leicester City during the 2009/10 campaign, in which he scored 12 times as a 19-year-old, then 20-year-old, helping the Foxes make the play-offs.

His time at the King Power Stadium didn't go to plan after that, struggling for games as the Foxes struggled to break back into the top six. Another loan spell, this time at Wigan Athletic, helped him rediscover form, netting five and assisting seven in 15 games in a play-off side.

One year after that, though, he moved north of the border to Rangers, and that's where his form properly started to progress, to where he is now, in the semi-professional game after a lengthy pro career.

How Ipswich Town were able to sign Martyn Waghorn for a bargain £250,000

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Waghorn's move to Rangers in 2015 coincided with the Scottish giants' rise back up the Scottish league pyramid. Indeed, a financial crisis in 2012 saw them start life again in the fourth tier.

After consecutive promotions and an invincible season in League One in 2013/14, Rangers failed to get promoted at the first time of asking in the Championship, and raided Wigan as part of their attempts to get over the line.

In came Waghron and fellow Latics teammate James Tavernier — the latter going on to become quite the cult hero at Ibrox over the following decade. Both were instrumental in their Scottish Championship win in the 2015/16 campaign, Waghorn especially, who scored 28 in 36 games in all competitions.

However, in the wake of that title win, Rangers' attempts to get Waghorn to extend his stay at the club were rejected by the striker. With two years left on his deal at the time, he remained for their return to the SPL, scoring seven in 32 games, but his contract situation hadn't been resolved, and he fell out of favour under new boss Pedro Caixinha.

In the summer of 2016, Ipswich Town were able to swoop in and take the then-27-year-old back to the Championship for just £250,000.

How Ipswich Town then made £5 million on Martyn Waghorn in just 12 months

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Waghorn had flurries of excellence in the Championship, but not many were expecting the striker to have the campaign he had during his sole year with Ipswich in 2017/18.

The Tractor Boys had just come off the back of a 16th-place finish in the second tier, having been in the play-off conversation for the three years prior. Waghorn was brought in to try and turn that back around, and he scored four in his first three games to lift his new side into the top two.

Ipswich, ultimately, weren't able to keep that form up throughout the whole season, but the frontman did. In the end, Waghorn finished the campaign with 16 goals and 11 assists as Mick McCarthy's side finished 12th.

The Irish boss departed the club towards the end of the season after nearly six years in charge, and with Ipswich heading in a new direction, Waghorn was cashed in on just 12 months after first joining, signing for Frank Lampard's Derby County for £5 million.

Martyn Waghorn never replicated the highs of his Ipswich Town stint in the rest of his professional career

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At Derby, Waghorn was part of that side that made the play-off final under Lampard in the 2018/19 campaign, dramatically beating Leeds United to reach Wembley.

Arguably, he didn't justify his £5 million price tag, but he was a solid addition. He scored 31 goals in three seasons at Pride Park and, more importantly, stuck around when things were starting to sour under Mel Morris.

Waghorn left in 2021 at the expiration of his contract for Coventry City, a few months before the Rams entered administration. He only scored twice during his time at the CBS Arena, at a time when Viktor Gyökeres was dominating the scoring charts for the Sky Blues.

After a short loan with Huddersfield Town in 2023, he rejoined Derby for the 2023/24 term, scoring seven times to help them return to the Championship under Paul Warne after a couple of years in League One.

Martyn Waghorn is still playing part-time after retiring from the professional game last year

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After that year back at Derby, Waghorn made eight appearances for Northampton Town in the first half of the season, and then announced his retirement from football in February 2025, aged 35.

Ultimately, the striker proved to miss the game too much, and towards the back end of last year, came out of retirement to play semi-professionally, first in the Baller League, and then midway through the campaign for eighth-tier side Anstey Nomads.

The Nomads, who are managed by former Leicester goalkeeper Conrad Logan and who have Waghorn's former strike partner David Nugent on the coaching staff, won promotion to Step 3 last season, with the veteran striker pitching in with a few goals, including one on his debut in January.

So far this season, Logan's side are sitting inside the Southern Premier League central play-offs, the highest level they've been at, and a division one step below the National League North. Waghorn has, per the league's stats, made just one appearance this season.

At 36, you'd expect that he still has what it takes to be a potent goalscorer at that level, given his extensive professional career, but it looks like his side are coping well with him taking a step back.