Ipswich Town couldn’t resist sizeable Sunderland transfer offer | OneFootball

Ipswich Town sold Connor Wickham to Sunderland for an initial £8.1m in what was a good deal for the Tractor Boys.

Ipswich Town have been transformed since Marcus Evans sold the club to a US consortium in April 2021.

Whilst the success didn’t come overnight, the new ownership meant the Tractor Boys went from scraping round for bargains, to finally having some serious investment going into the club.

In fairness, their remarkable rise under Kieran McKenna wasn’t all down to that backing, but promotion to the Premier League once again enhanced Ipswich’s financial power, and the quality in their squad right now was the club utilising that advantage in the summer.

Ipswich Town made big money from Connor Wickham’s sale to Sunderland

As mentioned, this wasn’t always the case for Ipswich, and one example of their position in the food chain came in 2011, when Sunderland finalised a deal to sign Connor Wickham from the Suffolk outfit.

There were always high hopes for the striker coming through the ranks at Portman Road, and Ipswich were prepared to give Wickham his big break in the game, as he made his debut just 11 days after his 16th birthday.

Unsurprisingly, the club eased him into the XI, but by the 2010/11 campaign, Wickham was becoming a more prominent figure, despite his age.

That season brought nine goals, which was a hugely impressive return for a teenager, and Sunderland were clearly convinced, as they paid an initial £8.1m for the 18-year-old, with the deal being worth £12m if add-ons were met.

This was a substantial fee at the time, but it was a reminder for Ipswich that they simply couldn’t hold on to their top talent when the Premier League came calling.

In an ideal world, the Tractor Boys would’ve wanted to keep Wickham for another year or two, with the idea that he could help them win promotion. Plus, if he had stuck around longer and scored more goals, there’s a chance even bigger clubs would’ve made a move.

But, it wasn’t to be, and with Simon Clegg, who was Ipswich CEO at the time, admitting that the offer was ‘too good to turn down’, it was a clear message as to where the club were at that moment.

Connor Wickham failed to fulfil his potential after Ipswich Town exit

In hindsight, Clegg’s words look smart. He recognised that Ipswich may not get an offer like this again, and he didn’t want to gamble on Wickham’s potential when such a sizeable sum was on the player.

Sadly for Wickham, leaving Ipswich didn’t go to plan for him either, with injuries seriously hindering the striker throughout his career.

Even though he boasted the physicality that you would want from a modern day number nine, staying fit was a problem, and each injury took its toll on Wickham.

With regular game time hard to come by, Wickham knew he would have to leave Sunderland, and a productive loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday demonstrated the undoubted talent he had.

Even after his mixed time at the Stadium of Light, Crystal Palace saw enough to spend £7m on Wickham, but, once again, Wickham’s struggles carried on. He managed just 50 appearances for the Eagles over the next five years, with almost half of them coming during his first campaign at the club.

A move to Preston followed on the expiry of his contract at Selhurst Park, but Wickham has bounced around over the past four years, featuring for MK Dons, Forest Green, Cardiff and Charlton. Then, after a year out of the game, he signed for Dubai City earlier this year.

Clearly, Wickham’s career didn’t work out in the way that many expected after he broke through at Ipswich, although you do have huge sympathy for him as injuries certainly played a big part in that.