"No guarantee" - Chiedozie Ogbene warning issued as Ipswich Town close in on Luton Town ace | OneFootball

Football League World's Luton Town fan pundit has backed the club for agreeing a deal with Ipswich Town for Chiedozie Ogbene

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Luton Town have been backed for sanctioning the impending transfer exit of Chiedozie Ogbene, who is poised to join Ipswich Town after earning significant interest ahead of Friday's 11pm transfer deadline.

According to a report from Football Insider transfer guru Pete O'Rourke, Luton are in "advanced talks" with the Tractor Boys regarding Ogbene's departure from Kenilworth Road, which is now expected to be completed before deadline day and is set to see Luton net an initial £8m.

A separate Football Insider update on Tuesday afternoon has claimed that Ogbene has said goodbye to his Luton teammates at the club's training ground as he nears his return to the top-flight with Ipswich, who have conducted a flurry of transfer activity in the Championship after their promotion last term.

Kieran McKenna has brought two of the 2023/24 Championship campaign's leading operators in Jack Clarke and Sammie Szmodics to Portman Road as of late while Omari Hutchinson has signed on a permanent basis, Liam Delap arrived last month from Manchester City after his loan spell with Hull City and defensive duo Jacob Greaves and Dara O'Shea have joined the ranks, too.

Ogbene appears primed to be the next Championship acquisition to head to Suffolk, despite having only signed for Luton last summer on a free transfer after his departure from Rotherham United.

The 20-cap Republic of Ireland international made 30 appearances in the Premier League for the Hatters last term and has started each of their opening three encounters back in the second-tier.

Luton Town verdict given as Chiedozie Ogbene closes in on Ipswich Town move

Ogbene has cut a divisive figure among supporters, some of whom have not exactly been up in arms following the series of recent reveals pertaining to his imminent exit from the club.

With the transfer automatically set to be registered as optimal profit given his status as a free agent signing in the first place, Football League World's Luton fan pundit Finley Cannon believes it represents good business for the club.

"Ipswich have been throwing around quite significant sums of money already in the transfer window, bringing in a lot of players," Finley told Football League World.

"Ogbene going to Ipswich would potentially restrict his game time more than he gets at Luton. While he is a very good player and he is direct and causes problems for a lot of teams, he's been fairly quiet and has struggled in the opening few games of this season, so there is no guarantee on what he can offer going forward for the rest of the season.

"Somewhere between £5-10m, potentially £7-8m [is a fair price for Ogbene].

"He was signed as a free transfer so anything we get for him would be a profit and there are plenty of other options you can bring in at that right-wing-back sort of area of the pitch who could potentially be younger and have a higher ceiling than Ogbene."

Luton Town must address Chiedozie Ogbene, Ipswich Town breakthrough

Although Luton have done well to collect an initial £8m figure for Ogbene given the circumstances, he does leave a notable void in Rob Edwards' system that must be addressed before the window concludes at the end of the week.

Dynamic, energetic and comfortable driving forward into space with the ball, Ogbene represents a strong, all-action profile on the right-hand side in Edwards' intricate 3-5-2 formation. It is not an easy profile to replace either, especially given time is very much of the essence.

You do feel that Luton's potential success in selling Ogbene will be dictated by whether they source a replacement and how well that void is filled, if at all.