Fresh Callum Wilson, West Ham twist emerges - it will affect Ipswich Town | OneFootball

The experienced centre-forward is now set to remain with the Hammers in their survival bid

Ipswich Town have suffered a major blow in their hopes of striking an eventual deal for West Ham's experienced striker, Callum Wilson, with a fresh twist emerging involving the 33-year-old.

According to the Athletic, Wilson will now be remaining at the London Stadium for the remainder of the Premier League season after previous talk suggested that he and the Hammers had come to an agreement in which it was expected his contract would be terminated just over five months ahead of schedule.

Such developments also come less than 48 hours after the nine-time former England international netted his fifth, and arguably, most crucial strike in claret and blue thus far, as he prodded home a last-gasp corner to secure a dramatic 2-1 victory over local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It has been well-documented that West Ham could be plying their trade in the Championship for the first time in 14 years at the beginning of next season, as they still remain inside the Premier League's relegation zone despite a much-needed morale-boosting victory against Spurs.

Meanwhile, Ipswich are hoping to regain their top flight status immediately under Kieran McKenna, as, last season, the Tractor Boys, Leicester City and Southampton were locked inside the bottom three for the vast proportion of the campaign.

The Blues are currently in a strong position to do exactly that, as they recorded a sixth win in their past eight Championship outings with a controlled and relatively simple 3-0 success over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

McKenna's side are currently third in the second tier having accumulated a total of 47 points from their first 26 league outings, and are just two points behind second-placed Middlesbrough, whilst also having a game in hand over Kim Hellberg's men.

Yet, whilst the Northern Irishman would clearly like to further bolster an already strong attacking department, he will not be able to do so through the experience of Wilson, although they are not the only club who will be left frustrated by West Ham's U-turn in the transfer saga.

As previously mentioned, Wilson's future at the London Stadium was plunged into doubt in the first week of the transfer window, as it was widely reported that he was expected to depart just six months after joining on a free transfer under Nuno Espírito Santo's predecessor in East London, Graham Potter.

Despite the fact the experienced forward had still been a regular in the one-time Championship title-winning head coach's first-team plans following his September appointment, Wilson was omitted from Nuno's squad for the alarming 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on January 6th, before also being absent for last weekend's success over second tier Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup third round.

Such developments also followed on from the Hammers' high-profile acquisitions of Pablo Felipe from Gil Vicente and Taty Castellanos, who joined from Serie A giants, Lazio, with the aforementioned deals setting the Premier League side back over £40m in transfer fees.

It was then reported by TWTD that Ipswich had registered their interest in Wilson, should his time with the Irons come to a swift end, whilst facing strong competition from the likes of Everton, Celtic and Saudi Pro League side, Al-Shabab.

Yet, despite those departure links and previous matchday squad omissions, the Coventry-born forward was named as a substitute in North London, and dramatically netted the winner against Thomas Frank's side in the third minute of second half stoppage-time.

It has subsequently been reported by the Athletic that, according to sources close to the situation, the Hammers now have no intention of parting ways with Wilson, who signed a one-year contract in August following his release from Newcastle United.

Kieran McKenna must quickly identify new Ipswich Town striker targets after Callum Wilson twist

With Wilson previously scoring 20 times in just 46 Championship appearances as part of AFC Bournemouth's title success in 2015 and his subsequent top flight record, there's no doubting what a pivotal signing he could have been for Town.

However, McKenna will now have to identify further short-term targets after also seeing a reported loan swoop for Lyndon Dykes come to nothing, with the ex-Birmingham City man signing for Charlton Athletic on Thursday.

On top of this, the likes of George Hirst, Chuba Akpom and Ivan Azon all have to step up to the plate with more individual strikes of their own, with the trio of Town's main centre-forward options only scoring 10 league goals between them thus far, which is one more than the individual tally of top scorer, Jaden Philogene.