Ipswich Town should make unpopular Leif Davis transfer call - some fans won't like it | OneFootball

Ipswich Town should cash in on left-back Leif Davis this summer, amid reported interest from the Premier League.

Ipswich Town have started their Championship campaign in quite underwhelming fashion, and an unpopular decision could be what is required to turn things around with the potential sale of Leif Davis perhaps needing to be sanctioned.

Following their relegation from the Premier League last season, Ipswich came back into the second-tier as one of the favourites for the title after a year or so of impressive transfer business.

However, that impressive business has caused the side to look very different to what it did when it gained promotion to the top-flight and now there could well be a need for the Tractor Boys to shake things up a little, because things that did work may not work as well with the personnel that they now have available to them.

Leif Davis was instrumental in their rise from League One to the Premier League, and the former Leeds United defender remains an excellent attacking threat from left-back.

However, it could well be that the sale of Davis this summer would allow Kieran McKenna to mould his side into something more effective and more balanced.

Leif Davis’ sale could be the key to unlocking Ipswich Town

Ipswich, as pre-season promotion favourites, will be very frustrated to have begun their campaign without a win in their opening four matches across all competitions.

They required a late controversial penalty to snatch a point away at Birmingham City on the opening day before a penalty shootout loss to League Two side Bromley in the first round of the EFL Cup.

Since then, the Suffolk-based outfit have been held to a 1-1 draw at Portman Road against Southampton and then beaten 1-0 at Deepdale by Preston North End.

Ipswich don’t necessarily look lethargic or as though they are lacking energy, but there is certainly a lack of co-ordination and cohesion to their attacks, which was often the case last season but perhaps simply overlooked due to the step up in quality.

A key reason for that could well be that their attacking thrusts down the left-hand side of the pitch are limited and confused, with Davis and Jack Clarke yet to strike up a successful relationship on that flank, despite coming through the academy at Leeds together.

Davis’ desire and impressive will to attack from the left often limits the space for Clarke to weave his magic, with Clarke having earned his move from Sunderland on the back of thriving in front of a more defence-first left-back, such as Leo Hjelde or Niall Huggins, at the Stadium of Light.

Especially apparent against Birmingham, that on-pitch bond between Davis and Clarke simply doesn’t seem to work, with the balance just ever so slightly off.

In their promotion-winning campaign in the 2023/24 Championship campaign, Davis often had either Marcus Harness or Nathan Broadhead on the left, and their entire role was to be a facilitator for the striker and to go inside to give Davis room to create.

Clarke is of too much financial value, as well as technical quality, to simply be a decoy, and that will require a shift in the way in which McKenna wants his team to play.

Leif Davis’ departure could free things up or Ipswich

The left-hand side had Davis attacking and the left-winger often helping out a lot more at the back. Whilst Clarke works hard, it is now more of a constant two-pronged attack that leads to an imbalance.

That imbalance is rarely seen on the other side of the pitch, though, where Ben Johnson and Ashley Young are positioned to simply provide occasional attacking support but more focus on the defence, leaving the right-winger the space to create.

If Ipswich were to bring in a left-back more of the profile and ilk of the likes of Johnson and Young then it could be the evolution that Ipswich require to get back to winning consistently and playing with more attacking cohesion and balance.

Ipswich have reportedly rejected offers from the Premier League for Davis and there is said to be interest from Nottingham Forest, with Town said to be reluctant to sell.

However, if McKenna and Ipswich are to evolve and go again this season, it could take something as hurtful and potentially divisive for the fan base as the sale of Davis to rebuild and thrive again, because relying on the names within their squad is clearly a problematic and naive strategy, as shown by their slow and sloppy start to the season.