Ipswich Town transfer fear must be lingering amid Bournemouth’s latest attempt to solve Antoine Semenyo exit | OneFootball

Championship promotion-chasers Ipswich Town may be nervously eyeing the possibility of football's transfer trickledown effect reaching Portman Road.

A transfer trickledown effect could be trickling down towards Ipswich Town, who may be looking at developments at Premier League outfit Bournemouth with increasing disquiet - albeit they may even be helped by a recent injury.

Following a shaky start to the season, the Tractor Boys have recovered well and entered 2026 in a good position in which they can reclaim the place in the Premier League that they lost at the end of the 2024-25 season.

A comfortable 3-0 against struggling Blackburn Rovers cemented their third-place position in the Championship, a point behind second-placed Middlesbrough, but with a game in hand on both them and Millwall, who are one place below them in the table.

But at this time of the year, success on the pitch can come at a cost. The January transfer window is open for business, and at such a time of year there will be clubs looking for new players who might consider Ipswich's players to be amongst those that they covet.

Bournemouth have Rayan in their sights, but Vasco Da Gama could force them to pibot

The £64 million transfer of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth to Manchester City will have given Ipswich Town cause for some degree of concern about what the Dorset club will do next with regard to finding a replacement for the mercurial winger.

Bournemouth have a significant windfall burning a hole in their pocket as a result of the sale of Semenyo, even after Bristol City's sell-on, and with two weeks of the window left before it closes, this could yet have knock-on effects that have an impact at Portman Road.

The Cherries are understood to be keen on signing Brazilian starlet Rayan, with Fabrizio Romano having reported that the Vasco Da Gama wonderkid wants the move and talks over a €35 million fee are happening, but no agreement has been reached yet.

There remains a possibility that this could all fall through, and if that does happen, Bournemouth may be left with little option to return to the domestic market for a replacement instead.

And should this happen, there's already been one Ipswich player who they've expressed an interest in before and who could be a perfect fit.

Bournemouth will surely have Jaden Philogene on transfer radar - but injury could deter Cherries

With 10 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions so far this season, Jaden Philogene has been one of Ipswich Town's star performers upon their return to the Championship.

Philogene has only been at Portman Road for a year, having transferred from Aston Villa for a reported fee of £20 million plus add-ons in January 2025. Ipswich were fighting for their lives to stay in the Premier League at the time, but Philogene's arrival at the club was unable to prevent that.

But following a summer during which they managed to fend off interest in the player from other clubs, he's shone this season, hitting double-figures in the goalscoring charts off the back of a string of solid performances for the Suffolk club.

There are good reasons for Ipswich fans to not be too concerned that such a move will happen. Ipswich were reported to have issued quite a strong "hands off" message over Philogene at the start of the year, following speculation that he was being considered by Bournemouth as a replacement for Semenyo.

Furthermore, an injury to Philogene may force Bournemouth to look elsewhere, even if their Rayan transfer does fall through.

The winger limped off during the first half of the Blackburn match, and although it's too early to tell how long he'll be out for, manager Kieran McKenna said after the match: "He's felt his knee so we'll have to see how it is.

"I'm sure it'll be a scan. It's too early to say (how long he'll be out)."

The possibility of the player not being available for a few weeks could tip the balance elsewhere in terms of looking for a replacement for Semenyo.

At this time of the year, clubs will become nervous nevertheless. Clubs can issue all the "hands off" warnings they like to other clubs, but the reality of the transfer market is that players' heads will be turned by interest from Premier League clubs, and if a player wants to leave a club, it's usually best for the selling club to accept this and get the best terms for a sale.

It's not often that an injury to a player carries a benefit to a club, but this may be what happens for Ipswich Town and Bournemouth over Jaden Philogene. If this injury is serious and the player is to be out of action for longer than a couple of weeks, it could smooth the path to them keeping him for the remainder of this season, at least.

But Ipswich Town