Ipswich Town supporters will be praying that their side can survive in the Premier League against all the odds despite recent poor results.
January has passed the Tractor Boys by in the top-flight with no wins coming their way from three games, with a promising draw away at Fulham then followed up with two home defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City.
Funnily enough, after being on the receiving end of a 2-0 loss to the Seagulls, Kieran McKenna has managed to poach Julio Enciso away from Fabian Hurzeler’s men on a loan deal with the hope he can play a key part in the Suffolk side keeping their heads above water.
What Enciso could offer Ipswich
The Paraguayan has shown flashes of his quality for the South Coast side since joining in 2022 but has been unable to really stake a claim for a starting spot throughout his up-and-down stay.
Indeed, the most Premier League appearances the attacking midfielder has managed in a single campaign is 20 during his debut season on English shores, with five goals and six assists still coming his way from 57 clashes.
He was even up for contention to win the FIFA Puskas award for his outrageous strike versus Manchester City in 2023, with McKenna hopeful now that more moments of magic like this will occur when he dons his new Ipswich kit very shortly.
Capable of playing all across the forward positions too as a versatile presence, it will be intriguing to see if Ipswich can land Enciso’s services permanently if they’re impressed and they also manage to survive, with the South American’s Transfermarkt value coming in at a reasonable £18.5m.
McKenna already a talent at his disposal that is worth the same amount, with the Tractor Boys boss keeping his fingers crossed that both the new recruit and the player in question can strike up a devastating partnership moving forward.
Omari Hutchinson's importance at Ipswich
Bringing Enciso in could actually see Omari Hutchinson moved out to the right flank where he managed to cause so much havoc in the Championship during Ipswich’s promotion story. That certainly sounds like a win-win as far as the relegation battlers are concerned.
The ex-Chelsea youngster turned first-teamer at Portman Road would tally up ten goals and six assists as McKenna’s men tasted automatic promotion, with the 21-year-old also delivering some top-drawer performances on occasion this season.
Labelled by football talent scout Jacek Kulig as a “superb” player, he has picked up two goals and one assist in league action, with both of those strikes coming against some big hitters in the league in Manchester United and Chelsea.
Coincidentally, Hutchinson’s transfer value also sits at around the £18.5m mark according to Transfermarkt, with the potential there for that price tag to move up and up when you consider he was worth just £2.5m last October when learning the ropes in Suffolk as a wide-eyed loanee.
December 2024
£18.5m
May 2024
£5.9m
March 2024
£3.8m
October 2023
£2.5m
Even if Enciso goes on to be an underwhelming signing, McKenna will hope Hutchinson continues to shine with the possibility that the former Chelsea attacker might well be sold on for some major bucks if Ipswich do slide straight back down to the Championship.
Before any of that talk, however, both Enciso and Hutchinson could combine well on the contrary, as the Tractor Boys attempt to bring in some game-changing signings to save their skin.
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