Coventry City and Ipswich Town plotting move for 20-goal Swansea City star | OneFootball

Coventry City and Ipswich Town have joined the race for Swansea City's Zan Vipotnik this summer

Coventry City and Ipswich Town both possess ambitions of Premier League football next season, and have begun sounding out targets this summer to bolster their ranks over the prospect of top-flight football.

Coventry City and Ipswich Town are the favourites for automatic promotion as things stand with just a handful of games remaining, after both Middlesbrough and Millwall lost ground in the battle for the top two places on Monday.

It has been, by almost all accounts, an excellent season for Coventry, who have one foot in the Premier League with just five games to go, with Frank Lampard leading the Sky Blues to the brink of top-flight football for the first time in 25 years.

Meanwhile, Ipswich, who haven't quite been at their scintillating best this campaign, have their fate in their hands, sitting level on points with Middlesbrough in second but with two games to spare.

Both will seriously believe that the Premier League is in their grasp, and both have already seemingly begun preparations for next season in the transfer market, with the expectation of top-flight football.

Coventry City and Ipswich Town to challenge Premier League clubs for Swansea City's Zan Vipotnik's signature this summer

According to TEAMtalk, Swansea striker Zan Vipotnik is quickly gathering interest from numerous Premier League sides such as Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton, Everton, Newcastle United, and West Ham United, whilst both Coventry and Ipswich also remain in the chase.

The Slovenian forward joined Swansea in the summer of 2024 as a free agent following French side Bordeaux entering administration and relinquishing their professional status, and this season, he has taken his game to another level.

Seven goals in 42 league appearances in his first campaign in South Wales was nothing to shout about, but in 39 league appearances this season, with five still to go, Vipotnik has hit 20 goals and grabbed two assists to boot, leading the Championship goalscoring charts by four goals ahead of Coventry's Haji Wright.

His form in front of goal has, understandably, seen him draw interest from numerous clubs across the continent, as well as both promotion hopefuls Coventry and Ipswich.

The 24-year-old did sign a fresh deal with the Swans in March, signing on a new four-year deal which takes his stay in South Wales through until the summer of 2030, creating a stumbling block for chasing teams.

Whether any sort of release clause was placed into this deal remains to be seen, though in any instance, Swansea remain in the driving seat when it comes to negotiations over the future of the Slovenian international.

Why Coventry and Ipswich are after Swansea's Zan Vipotnik

It's understandable that the current top two sides in the Championship would be interested in the league's current top scorer.

Coventry have both Wright and Simms jostling for a place in Frank Lampard's starting XI, whilst Brandon Thomas-Asante is also more than capable of playing there if required.

However, Wright has consistently been linked with moves away ever since joining the Sky Blues, with the most recent links coming in January, with both West Ham and Turkish side Besiktas said to be interested in the American.

Despite trailing only Vipotnik in the goalscoring charts at this stage, doubts over Wright's ability to make the step up to the Premier League have come to the fore, and will go some way to explaining Coventry sounding out other options up top this summer, having also been linked to FC Zurich striker Philippe Keny.

Ipswich, meanwhile, have struggled up front for the majority of the season, with neither one of George Hirst, Ivan Azon, nor Chuba Akpom cementing their place as Kieran McKenna's preferred option up top.

Hirst is unlikely to be the first choice option in any instance heading into next season, whilst Azon will likely return to Como after his loan spell expires, and Akpom, like Hirst, is unlikely to emerge as the preferred option.

A new centre-forward will be high up on McKenna's shopping list this summer, and Vipotnik has reportedly become a favoured target.

Both sides will need to be promoted to stand any chance of prising the Slovenian away from Swansea