Ipswich Town will surely sell player regardless of Charlton Athletic showing: View | OneFootball

The writing looks to be on the wall for Freddie Ladapo at Ipswich Town, with the striker almost certainly set for a summer exit.

The 31-year-old was farmed out to Charlton Athletic in League One during the Janaury transfer window due to a lack of game time at Portman Road, with a number of forwards ahead of him in the pecking order in Suffolk.

The former Rotherham United man has barely set the world alight even after dropping down a division, with just a solitary goal in his 12 outings for the Addicks so far resulting in him having to make do with appearances off the bench.

With the Tractor Boys vying for a spot in the Premier League with a handful of games remaining in the Championship season, offloading Ladapo will be high on the priority list in the summer whichever division they find themselves in.

Freddie Ladapo's career stats show he's probably suited to League One football

Ladapo’s move to Town from the Millers proved to be a shrewd bit of business in the summer of 2022, with the striker finding the net 17 times in a League One campaign that saw them finish second to return to the Championship.

With a return of 0.70 goals per 90, the ex-Plymouth Argyle player was making his mark in a rampant Ipswich side; having rediscovered his clinical edge in front of goal which had earned him a move to the Premier League seven years before.

After proving himself to be a good marksman for Margate in the sixth tier of English football, Crystal Palace brought him to Selhurst Park in 2016 in the hope of finding a non-league gem, but after just two appearances for the Eagles over two years he dropped down into the EFL to continue his career.

Spells at Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town and Southend United all failed to really produce results, before a move to Plymouth Argyle in 2018 saw him bang in 18 goals in 45 league appearances before earning a move to Rotherham.

14 goals the following year helped the Millers earn promotion, before nine goals in the Championship the next season as the Yorkshire side immediately dropped back down into League One.

As is so often the case with United, they went straight back up the following season with Ladapo netting eleven times, before he repeated the feat with Ipswich the following year - this time with 17 goals to his name.

Once again though the striker has found life in the second tier hard to handle, with McKenna struggling to utilise the forward to the best of his ability as George Hirst was being preferred as the focal point at the top end of the pitch.

With just two starts out of his 17 appearances at the start of the campaign, it was plain to see that Ladapo was being faded out at Portman Road, and he took the chance to rediscover some form at with Charlton when the January transfer window came about.

Things haven’t quite gone to plan at The Valley though, with his only goalscoring contribution being the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Lincoln City in mid-February, and a yellow card count double his goal tally.

With the division’s top scorer Alfie May hammering in goals left, right and centre, it was always going to be hard to dislodge the former Cheltenham Town man as the focal point in the Addicks’ attack, with boss Nathan Jones preferring teenage talent Daniel Kanu to partner him in recent fixtures.

Freddie Ladapo's Ipswich Town contract information

Despite his recent exploits being something of a disappointment, there will still be plenty of interest in the 31-year-old when the summer comes calling, whether that be from a League One or League Two club.

Having won promotion from the third tier three times in his career, his experience in battling at the top end of the table could prove to be valuable for any side with promotion aspirations next season, even if they use the former Southend man as an option from the bench.

The striker still has a contract at Portman Road until the summer of 2025, which could potentially hamper any permanent deal away from the club in the summer, with a pay-cut more than likely having to be arranged if he were to leave.

With the additions of Kieffer Moore and Ali Al-Hamadi in the January transfer window, it is clear to see that Kieran McKenna’s vision for Ipswich Town doesn’t feature Ladapo, with the Tractor Boys boss happy to offload him mid-season.

That makes a summer sale look all the more likely, and even though his goalscoring has deserted him of late, there is still a quality player in there somewhere, he just needs the right environment in order for him to shine.