Ipswich Town facing further transfer road block as Burnley & Crystal Palace join race | OneFootball

Town still want to bring the Swedish midfielder back to Portman Road following their relegation.

Ipswich Town now face a challenge from Premier League sides Burnley and Crystal Palace in their bid to sign Napoli midfielder Jens Cajuste this summer.

Relegation back to the Championship didn't do much to harm the reputation of the 25-year-old. His performances in the 33 appearances he made in the English top flight for Kieran McKenna's side last term caught the eye of a number of clubs across Europe.

Ipswich would have been obliged to buy Cajuste from the Italian champions this summer had they been able to buck the current trend of promoted Premier League clubs going straight back down again, an option that they wouldn't have minded as they are still said to be interested in the Swedish international.

Bringing him back to Portman Road will be no easy task, though. They did well enough this time last year to sign him on loan in the first place as Brentford were also very keen on signing Cajuste.

Ipswich Town facing Burnley and Crystal Palace fight for Jens Cajuste

Premier League clubs are yet again interested in signing the centre midfielder. This time Burnley and Crystal Palace want the Swede, according to Sky Sports.

The Eagles have a strong recent track-record of shopping for Championship targets. Although Cajuste is not a current employee of a second tier club, he is still wanted by Ipswich, as per Sky Sports' report.

Burnley, meanwhile, find themselves in the position that the Tractor Boys were in a year ago.

They finished second to Leeds United last season and are now looking to strengthen Scott Parker's squad ahead of their return to the top flight, with Cajuste among the options that they are considering.

The 25-year-old is also on the radars of Besiktas and Sevilla, according to Sky. He joined his parent club in the summer of 2023 from Stade Reims for a reported €12 million.

As per other reports, Napoli only want a €10 million fee to sell Cajuste this summer, and whilst Ipswich may be able to afford that, they cannot offer him top flight football like all the other suitors.

An uphill battle lies ahead of Ipswich Town in their pursuit of Jens Cajuste

Ipswich have held talks with Napoli about a potential deal for Cajuste, as their chairman, Mark Ashton, revealed to the East Anglia Daily Times, but, even with the player's exposure to the club, they can't feel overly confident about their chances of landing him given the teams that they are up against in this fight.

Unless Palace get booted out of next season's Europa League by UEFA, they will be able to offer the Swede the chance to play across the continent next term. So, potentially, will Besiktas, if they can get through their qualifying matches.

When that's on the table, playing in the Championship may be a hard sell for Ashton and Ipswich's hierarchy to make to Cajuste, even if he would definitely start week in, week out at Portman Road.