Over the years, Ipswich Town have had some big names play for the club. Before Kieran McKenna took the Tractor Boys from League One to the Premier League in consecutive seasons, some current-day Premier League stars wore that famous blue shirt during their time in the football league.
The likes of Trevoh Chalobah spent a season on loan at Portman Road from boyhood club Chelsea, and Tyrone Mings, now part of Unai Emery’s successful Aston Villa side, played 63 times for the club before a move to Bournemouth. The likes of Chris Wood and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have also played for Ipswich.
Another of their former players, who has since gone on to play European football, turned out to be a genius piece of business from the club. That player is Adam Webster.
Adam Webster’s record at Ipswich
Brighton and Hove Albion centre-back Webster spent two seasons at Portman Road when they were in the Championship between 2016 and 2018. He was part of a side that managed to avoid relegation, finishing mid-table in both of his seasons at the club.
The Tractor Boys signed the centre-back in June 2016 from Portsmouth, the club where he first broke through. He cost the East Anglian outfit around £750k, according to BBC Sport, which, at the time was a record fee for Mick McCarthy as Ipswich boss.
The centre-back went on to make 53 appearances for the club over the two seasons, managing to get himself on the scoresheet once, against Birmingham City, and grab three assists along the way.
Frustratingly for the defender, injuries hampered his time at Portman Road. In his first season, he missed 259 days, and 44 games, with five separate cases of injury, before missing a further 94 games and 17 games with three different injury issues in his second campaign.
Eventually, the defender departed the club in 2018, joining Championship rivals Bristol City. His move to Ashton Gate cost £3.5m, although there were reports of clauses in the move increasing that to £8m.
Webster’s value in 2024
Nowadays, the defender is worth even more, as he continues to ply his trade on the South Coast at Brighton. He has become a key player at the Amex Stadium and was even praised by Jamie Carragher in 2022 for being “better than any other English central defender” at playing out from the back with both feet.
The Seagulls paid £20m to sign the defender in 2019, and he became their record signing at the time. He now ranks 10th on that list, alongside some superb players who have been signed by Brighton’s effective recruitment strategy.
Player
Signed from
Fee
Georginio Rutter
Leeds
£39.3m
Yankuba Minteh
Newcastle
£29.4m
Joao Pedro
Watford
£28.8m
Mats Weiffer
Feyenoord
£26.9m
Brajan Gruda
Mainz
£26.5m
Ferdi Kadioglu
Fenerbache
£25.2m
Matt O’Riley
Celtic
£24.8m
Moises Caicedo
Independiente
£23.7m
Carlos Baleba
Lille
£22.7m
Adam Webster
Bristol City
£20m
He has since gone on to make 142 appearances for the South Coast outfit, although he has sadly been hampered by injuries at the Amex, too. He has so far managed to amass eight goals, including the first of a 2-1 win away to Arsenal, and three assists.
Despite his injury problems, the defender has certainly put in some key contributions, skippering the side on six occasions, and even featuring in the Europa League, a five-minute cameo at home to Ajax.
Nowadays, the defender, who was described as “immaculate” in possession by former Portsmouth teammate Tom Craddock, has seen his value drop slightly. According to Transfermarkt, he is now worth £12.6m, although that still represents a 260% increase from the £3.5m upfront fee that the Tractor Boys received for him back in 2019.
That is also worth more than summer signing Sammie Szmodics, who cost £9m up front. The Ireland international is valued at around £8.4m according to Transfermarkt, following a superb 2023/24 campaign for Blackburn Rovers in which he scored 27 Championship goals.
The 29-year-old has also caught the eye early into his time at Ipswich, after netting in the defeat away to Manchester City, with the club having certainly progressed since the days in which Webster was plying his trade under the likes of McCarthy.
Market Movers
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There is certainly a strong argument to be made that Ipswich made a mistake selling Webster. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and knowing the player he has become, the Tractor Boys may well wish he was in McKenna’s squad today, alongside Szmodics and co.
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