Swansea City beating Rangers & Valencia to transfer will have rivals taking notice - including Ipswich Town | OneFootball

Swansea City have secured a real coup by signing Cameron Burgess and the rest of the Championship will be taking notice

Swansea City made their fifth signing of the summer out of nowhere on Saturday afternoon when they announced that out-of-contract Ipswich Town defender Cameron Burgess would make the move to SA1 ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

In the modern world where transfers are usually broken by journalists and media outlets well in advance of being completed, it was a huge surprise when Swansea announced that Burgess would join the club, and not just because of how well they had done to keep the move under wraps.

Burgess had become a key player for the Tractor Boys since his move to the club in 2021, and with his future at Portman Road in the air, he was linked with Scottish giants Rangers along with La Liga sides Valencia and Girona.

Ipswich were also keen to retain his services and offered him a new deal, so his decision to move to Swansea is one that has raised eyebrows amongst some neutrals and shows that the Swans mean business this summer.

Swansea City signing Cameron Burgess is a statement of intent

The Australian defender was a mainstay in Kieran McKenna's side as Ipswich Town made it back-to-back promotions to reach the Premier League in 2024, and he started 16 Premier League games last season as the Tractor Boys were relegated after just one top-flight campaign.

Burgess showed that he's a quality Championship defender during Ipswich's promotion-winning campaign, and for Swansea to sign him on a free amid interest from huge clubs like Rangers and Valencia is some feat.

It's the type of signing that makes supporters of other clubs in the Championship sit-up and take notice of what's building in SA1, and many Ipswich supporters are dumbfounded how a player like Burgess has left them to join a club who finished mid-table in the Championship last season.

The Australian will replace Harry Darling, who has left on a free for Ipswich's bitter rivals Norwich City, and while losing Darling is a blow, Swansea could well have upgraded on the 25-year-old by signing Burgess.

While Burgess may not have started every single game for Ipswich this coming season, he certainly would have played an important role for McKenna's side in their bid to return to the Premier League at the first attempt, and it speaks volumes that Swansea have managed to convince him to swap Portman Road for the Swansea.com Stadium.

Burgess' signing represents a change in Swansea's transfer strategy, and with his wealth of experience set to bolster their defence it's understandable why the Jack Army are so excited.

Swansea City could well be competing alongside Ipswich Town this season

With Burgess turning down the offer of a new contract at Portman Road, Ipswich would have been hoping that he'd sign for a club in another country rather than a fellow Championship side, but the 29-year-old will come up against the Tractor Boys this coming season.

Given their early summer business, Swansea will be confident of having an improved 2025/26 campaign, and while the Championship is a notoriously difficult league to predict, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them mixing it in the top ten at the very minimum.

This means there's a decent chance Ipswich and Swansea could well be competing directly against each other next season for a play-off place, and Burgess' arrival could make a huge difference to the Swans' chances of competing in the upper echelons of the Championship table.

Only time will tell, but Swansea will be quietly confident that they're building a strong squad this summer and could finally compete for a play-off place after a number of years of mid-table finishes.