Hull City player set for Ipswich Town medical as £35m double deal hangs in the balance | OneFootball

Jacob Greaves has moved a step closer to becoming a Tractor Boys player, but Jaden Philogene is not there just yet

Ipswich Town have made a significant transfer breakthrough as they have agreed a deal for Hull City centre-back Jacob Greaves.

As first reported by The Athletic's David Ornstein, the 23-year-old Tigers star is set to undergo a medical with the Suffolk outfit in advance of completing a deal to make his much anticipated Premier League switch.

The Tractor Boys have been in talks for a double deal involving Greaves' mercurial team-mate Jaden Philogene too, which would be worth £35 million plus add-ons, but negotiations for the winger are yet to be finalised, although it is likely that there will be an agreement in the near future.

Crystal Palace hold strong interest in Philogene and they could theoretically end up gazumping the Premier League newcomers, but as talks continue, it is Greaves who is the closest to arriving at Portman Road.

Ipswich Town poised to complete Jacob Greaves deal with Hull City

Greaves has been a Premier League player in waiting for some time, having come through the academy ranks of the Tigers since he was a child.

The towering presence's first season in senior football was in 2019-20 with then League Two side Cheltenham Town, where he featured 35 times across the course of the campaign before it was cut short because of COVID-19, and that gave him the platform to return to East Yorkshire and play a major part in Hull's League One promotion-winning campaign.

Across the last three seasons where the Tigers have been a Championship team, Greaves has featured 143 times in the second tier of English football, and 2023-24 was a landmark campaign as he not only won the club's Player of the Year award, but was also named in the Championship Team of the Season as a true sign of his remarkable performances.

Whilst Liam Rosenior couldn't guide Hull to the play-off spots and then promotion, Greaves will be heading to the top flight, with Ipswich set to win the battle for his services.

Kieran McKenna utilised a partnership of Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess for his Ipswich side for the most part last season, but he is set to invest a significant amount of money on the services of Greaves.

Of course, Greaves isn't the only player that Ipswich want, with Jaden Philogene also in negotiations over a move to Portman Road.

However, Ornstein reports that whilst the deal is still likely to happen as a double transfer, Town have not quite got the tricky attacker over the line just yet, with negotiations ongoing over his move.

Crystal Palace are also said to be keen on the 22-year-old ex-Aston Villa man, but Crystal Palace, who now have money to play with following Michael Olise's move to Bayern Munich, so there's every chance that Oliver Glasner's side could throw a spanner into the works.

Even though Hull are set to receive a big fee for the services of Greaves, it's going to be hard to replace a player that is arguably the best centre-back in the Championship.

Left-footed, comfortable on the ball and dominant in the air, Greaves is deserving of the step up to the Premier League, although he is heading to a side that will be one of the favourites to go down, so he has his work cut out.

Hull now have to find a suitable player to come in for Greaves and take his place, and that is going to be easier said than done.

Tim Walter will have the funds to spend though, and given Acun Ilicali is a generous owner, expect someone talented to arrive at the MKM Stadium - they will have huge shoes to fill though.