Ipswich Town warned over Conor Chaplin, Luke Woolfenden exits and told it "could come back to bite us" | OneFootball

FLW's Ipswich Town fan pundit has given his verdict on what the club got wrong in the transfer market this summer.

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...

It was a busy summer transfer window for Ipswich Town following their relegation from the Premier League, but it is fair to say some surprise late exits raised eyebrows among supporters.

Ipswich brought in 11 new signings this summer, with David Button, Ashley Young, Darnell Furlong, Cedric Kipre, Azor Matusiwa, Jens Cajuste, Marcelino Nunez, Kasey McAteer, Sindre Walle Egeli, Chuba Akpom and Ivan Azon all arriving at Portman Road.

The Tractor Boys were certainly not afraid to spend big, and they smashed the Championship transfer record to sign winger Egeli from Danish side FC Nordsjaelland for a fee of £17.5 million, with their budget being boosted by the sales of the likes of Omari Hutchinson, Nathan Broadhead and Liam Delap.

However, while Ipswich were widely expected to lose stars such as Hutchinson and Delap after relegation, there were some more unexpected exits towards the end of the window, with defender Luke Woolfenden and forward Conor Chaplin departing on deadline day.

Woolfenden and Chaplin were both part of the Tractor Boys squad that won back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, but they were allowed to leave on Monday, with the former joining Coventry City for a fee of £4 million and the latter returning to former club Portsmouth on a season-long loan.

Ipswich Town and Kieran McKenna questioned after Luke Woolfenden and Conor Chaplin exits

When asked what he believes the club got wrong this summer, FLW's Ipswich Town fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, insisted that sanctioning the departures of Woolfenden and Chaplin could prove to be a big mistake, and he claimed that there was too much change in the squad during the transfer window.

"The last day of the window was the biggest disappointment for me, and I think it's the one thing that could come back to bite us on the bum the most," Adam told FLW.

"In getting rid of Luke Woolfenden and Conor Chaplin, we've got rid of two players who really know McKenna's style and who were proven in the Championship as top-end performers.

"In Woolfenden's case, we sold him to a promotion rival.

"I'm not sure about Portsmouth yet, but their front four or five looks quite strong with Chaplin added to that as well.

"It's only a loan with a recall option in January, but I think my outgoings are more my issue with this transfer window.

"We've lost Axel Tuanzebe and Cameron Burgess, and we've sold Nathan Broadhead, which I think is painful as a lot of us have seen them go up as back-to-back promotion winners and be part of the squad and culture.

"Yes, there did need to be change, but I don't think there needed to be as much of an extreme overhaul of the squad as there has been.

"It remains to be seen whether that will work now, we've got a lot of new players.

"It looks like we'll be developing a McKenna 2.0 philosophy, rather than going with what made us successful in the Championship last time, but I have concerns about how successful that will actually be."

Ipswich Town may live to regret Conor Chaplin, Portsmouth deal

It was always going to be difficult for Ipswich supporters to see members of their double promotion-winning squad depart, but a refresh of the squad was needed after last season's disappointing relegation campaign.

Woolfenden's departure does leave the Tractor Boys a little light in central defence, but he was unlikely to feature much ahead of Dara O'Shea, Jacob Greaves and Cedric Kipre this season, so it is easy to see why the club felt they could not turn down Coventry's £4 million bid.

While Woolfenden's exit may not have too much of an impact, giving the green light for Chaplin to move on is a much more controversial call, and with Ipswich struggling for goals in the early stages of the season, they have taken a big gamble by allowing the 28-year-old to return to Portsmouth.