Ipswich & Coventry pushing to sign Premier League striker

Ipswich Town and Coventry City both know that they need to significantly improve their squads if they want to stand a chance at avoiding an instant relegation from the Premier League.

Seven of the last nine teams to come up from the Championship have been relegated, with Sunderland and Leeds United bucking the trend last season.

Signing a new centre-forward is on the agenda for both Ipswich and Coventry in the summer transfer window, as Frank Lampard and incoming Town boss Gary O’Neill will know that they need regular goalscorers.

Although they were ultimately relegated under Kieran McKenna, the Tractor Boys did find a regular goalscorer when they signed Liam Delap from Manchester City in the summer of 2024.

The English frontman scored 12 goals in 37 Premier League matches for Ipswich in the 2024/25 campaign before signing for Chelsea last year.

Ipswich and Coventry pushing to sign Premier League striker

Delap was an impressive piece of recruitment by the Blues because he had only scored eight goals in 31 Championship games on loan at Hull City in the previous season, but they saw that he had the potential to thrive at a higher level.

Now, the club are reportedly looking at a player who could follow Delap’s footsteps to shine in the Premier League in the 2026/27 campaign.

According to TEAMtalk, Ipswich Town and Coventry City are both among the clubs interested in a deal to sign Bournemouth centre-forward Daniel Jebbison in the summer transfer window.

The report claims that both clubs, along with Hull City, are ‘pushing’ to secure the Canada international’s signature to bolster their respective squads for the Premier League season.

It adds, though, that the Cherries are not keen on cashing in on him on a permanent basis and that a loan deal is more likely at this stage of the window.

TEAMtalk reveals that Middlesbrough, Birmingham City, Norwich City, and Blackburn Rovers are all eyeing up moves to sign the 22-year-old on loan, which means that it will not be an easy deal for any side to complete.

Daniel Jebbison could be the next Liam Delap

Ipswich and Coventry could unearth a gem by winning the race to sign Jebbison this summer, as he may turn out to be their own version of Delap in the Premier League next term.

Supporters, from either club, may look at his return of six goals and two assists on loan at Preston North End in the Championship and dismiss any chance of him stepping up to the Premier League to score goals on a regular basis.

However, Delap only scored eight goals on loan at Hull City before his move to Portman Road, and Jebbison is in a similar position as the Englishman was at the time, as a young striker who is still looking for his breakthrough campaign.

The Canadian marksman’s output in the Championship for Preston was very similar to what Delap produced with the Tigers in the 2023/24 campaign, in terms of both his attacking contributions and his physicality.

Whilst that does not automatically mean that Jebbison will score 12 goals in the Premier League for Ipswich or Coventry next season, it does show that he should not be written off as a target.

There have been signs, encouraging signs, that he could make it at the top level. He scored one goal in five Premier League matches for Sheffield United as a teenager and one goal in 105 minutes of top-flight action for Bournemouth.

On top of that, Jebbison scored six goals in six matches for the Blades at U18 level and struck nine times in 23 games on loan at Burton Albion in the 2021/22 campaign, which shows that he can score goals on a regular basis when he is confident and flowing.

Therefore, signing the Canada international, who has been capped seven times by his country, could be a risk worth taking for Ipswich or Coventry this summer, as he may just turn out to be the next Delap.