Jacob Greaves tipped as Ipswich Town’s £15m Premier League-ready ace | OneFootball

Jacob Greaves' current situation at Portman Road has caused plenty of debate

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Ipswich Town have been backed to retain the services of Jacob Greaves and see an eventual upturn in form from the defender, despite there being plenty of debate as a result of his current situation at Portman Road.

It has been widely debated that, in terms of depth, the Tractor Boys have the strongest squad in the Championship on paper, albeit that hasn't fully aligned with the performance levels and results showcased by Kieran McKenna's side throughout the entirety of this season.

At present, the Northern Irishman's side are fourth in the second tier, having accumulated 54 points from their opening 30 league matches of the campaign, albeit they do have two matches in hand that could potentially see them close the gap on the automatic promotion places, with second-placed Middlesbrough seven points clear of the Suffolk club.

Many of the players who helped Town achieve back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League between 2023 and 2024 are still at the club, whilst they were able to recruit some of the Championship's best-performing players in the lead-up to their solitary campaign back in the top-flight.

Greaves certainly fell into that particular bracket after earning a spot in the second tier's Team of the Season during his final campaign with boyhood club, Hull City. However, it has been a mixed near-two-year spell at Portman Road for the 25-year-old.

Despite this, Football League World's Ipswich Town fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, believes the versatile figure could still turn out to be a key performer for Town over time, stating that his attributes could be better suited to the Premier League, whilst the opposite can be said of Cedric Kipre, who has proven to be a shrewd loan addition from Stade de Reims.

Jacob Greaves backed to stay at Ipswich Town as £15m ace compared to Cedric Kipre

So far this season, Greaves has made just 12 appearances in the Championship, with seven of those coming since he was given a one-game suspension for being sent off against Blackburn Rovers on September 20th, even though the fixture was controversially abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch and replayed two-and-a-half months later.

His last two league appearances against Coventry City and Sheffield United have also come at left-back instead of Leif Davis, whilst featuring in both FA Cup encounters against Blackpool and Wrexham in his favoured centre-back role.

However, in recent months, we have seen former West Brom duo, Kipre and Dara O'Shea, form an impressive partnership, with Wilkin believing the Ivorian defender's qualities are key to Championship success, offering a comparison between himself and Greaves whilst backing the £15m ace to remain in Suffolk for the forseeable future.

"I would not be selling Jacob Greaves at all," he told FLW.

"It's a bit of a weird one. He's probably a better defender for the Premier League, whereas Cedric Kipre has come in on loan and earned the shirt by playing well.

"But, I don't think - if Town were to get promoted - that Kipre could make the step-up to the Premier League as seamlessly," Wilkin claimed.

"Greaves, obviously, is younger, still got development and learning to do, he's still playing sporadically and training. I think he'll continue to improve.

"Kipre's form has dropped in recent games, so there's potential that he could earn his place back.

"I don't think there's much between the pair of them in terms of ability. I think Greaves has probably got the higher ceiling," he added.

"He can also cover left-back and has done that. His versatility means he's a valuable squad player, and it's a good problem to have as long as the player doesn't want to move.

"He doesn't seem to be making any fuss and has brought into the squad dynamic of 'starters and finishers' that different players will play at different times.

"I definitely wouldn't be selling him, because it weakens your position in that area, and it's always good to have centre-back depth," Wilkin stated.

Jacob Greaves will hope to play an important role in Ipswich Town's promotion bid

As Wilkin alluded to, Greaves' availability in multiple areas does make his presence valuable even if he isn't starting week-in, week-out, which McKenna will certainly be aware of.

With Town still having 16 matches to play, the defender is likely to earn an ample amount of minutes where he can contribute to a promotion bid, regardless of whether that is through the automatic route or via the play-offs.

Greaves is also under contract at Portman Road until the summer of 2029, showcasing that Town were buying into his future potential, as well as current ability after they struck a deal with Hull in July 2024.