Ipswich Town may be on the look-out for a new winger this summer, with transfer target Jaden Philogene set to join Aston Villa. Alex Jones picks seven potential alternatives.
Jeremy Sarmiento
Getting the obvious pick out of the way quickly, Ipswich know Jeremy Sarmiento. Kieran McKenna knows him, the players know him and the fans know him. They’ve seen enough of him to know his strenghts, his weaknesses and his potential.
When he completed his loan move to Portman Road back in January, it was reported that the Blues would be able to extend it for a further year if they reached the Premier League. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen, but at the writing, Sarmiento remains a Brighton & Hove Albion player.
Having impressed at the Copa America – where his Ecuador side were beaten on penalties in the quarter-finals – the 22-year-old revealed that he’d be heading back to his parent club for pre-season training and to talk to new boss Fabian Hurzeler. His father has since claimed that, while remaining at the Amex Stadium is the priority, he’s had interest from La Liga and Bundesliga clubs.
His versatility is clearly a huge plus in McKenna’s eyes, as is his knack for scoring late goals. A permanent deal may be a bit too difficult to negotiate this summer, but there’s no reason why Town shouldn’t try to bring him back for the 2024/25 campaign.
Abdallah Sima
If Sarmiento isn’t going to move this summer, Ipswich could look to one of his Brighton team-mates. Abdallah Sima is yet to play a single game for the Seagulls after joining from Slavia Prague in 2021. He’s since been out on loan at Stoke City, Angers and Rangers, only really hitting form at the latter last season.
Everything clicked into place at Ibrox, registering 11 goals and two assists in 25 Scottish Premiership games, having missed a chunk of the campaign through injury. On top of that, he found the back of the net three times in Rangers’ Europa League campaign while also striking against PSV in Champions League qualification, albeit that his side were eventually knocked out.
His pathway to game time at Brighton is limited, particularly if Sarmiento stays, with the likes of Joao Pedro, Kaoru Mitoma, Simon Adingra and new arrival Yankuba Minteh all ahead of him in the pecking order. As a result, they’ll reportedly look to sell him for around £7 million, with Rangers desperate to get him back.
He ticks a lot of boxes. He’s only 23, stands at 6’2” and is a senior international for Senegal. He’s fast, powerful and clinical. Say what you want about the level of Scottish football, but he scored consistently when he was fit and impressed in Europe too. There’s a lot to like, albeit that he lacks versatility by purely being a left winger.
Nathan Tella
There’s a clear argument that this one could be out of Ipswich’s reach, but he’s the type of player that they’d love to sign. Nathan Tella stood out during an impressive loan spell at Burnley in 2022/23, but the Clarets couldn’t afford to sign him on a permanent deal after sealing promotion to the Premier League, so relegated Southampton sold him off to the highest bidder.
That turned out to be Bayer Leverkusen, who signed him for a reported fee of £20 million. Of course, Xabi Alonso’s side had a remarkable season, winning the Bundesliga title and DFB Pokal without suffering a single defeat while also reaching the final of the Europa League.
Tella played his part in that, but only ended up starting eight league games. Add in his 16 cameos and his total number of minutes came to 812. Now that the Werkself are back in the Champions League, they’ll probably be looking to add more quality in wide areas, and that could further limit the 25-year-old’s game time.
A permanent move is probably out of the equation here, but what’s to say that Ipswich couldn’t tempt Tella and Leverkusen to agreeing a loan deal? He has Premier League experience, searing pace and the ability to play on both flanks. He’d be a regular starter at Portman Road and could continue his development under McKenna.
Jack Clarke
I’ve already written about Jack Clarke in a previous transfer targets piece, so there’s no need to go into the same depth here. Most Ipswich supporters know his quality and have earmarked him as a preferred alternative for Philogene, and you can see why.
The 23-year-old came through Leeds United’s academy before joining Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of £10 million. It never worked out there and he failed to shine out on loan until joining Sunderland in 2022, leading to a permanent move the following year.
He’s improved year-on-year since stepping up to the Championship, going from nine goals and 11 assists in 2022/23 to 15 goals and four assists last season – despite the fact that the Black Cats were poor for most of the campaign and Clarke spent quite a while on sidelines through injury.
He’s set for a big move to the Premier League this summer and would probably cost a little less than Philogene. Although his versatility is limited, he’d have the chance to become Town’s first-choice left winger if they pushed to do the deal in the coming weeks.
Osame Sahraoui
Osame Sahraoui won’t be a familiar name for many Town fans, having come through the ranks at Valerenga before making the switch to Dutch side Heerenveen in 2023 for a reported fee in the region of £1.5 million. Despite playing for a mid-table team, he’s been one of the standout talents in league, bagging eight goals and four assists in 32 games.
When comparing the stats of Eredivisie wingers, the 23-year-old consistently comes out towards the top of the pile. His passing, chance creation, dribbling and ball carrying numbers are all highly impressive. He presses high to win the ball and draws fouls – all the key characteristics of a top winger.
The obvious question mark here is whether that can be transferred to a top league like the Premier League, but there’s a lot that suggests he’d improve playing alongside better players. His expected assists [xA] of 7.81 show that he’d be towards the top of the charts if he was playing for a team like PSV, Feyenoord or Ajax.
There are drawbacks. Like Sima, he’s purely a left winger, and standing at 5’5”, he may struggle against powerful Premier League defenders. This one would be low risk, high reward, and there’s clearly a bright future for him wherever he ends up.
Andreas Schjelderup
Elsewhere in Europe, Andreas Schjelderup has raised quite a few eyebrows with his performances at Nordsjaelland. It was enough to earn him a move to Benfica last summer, although he was sent back out to his boyhood club for the 2023/24 campaign.
The 20-year-old ended up with nine goals and six assists in 26 Superligaen matches. His standout game came against AGF Aarhus back in April, where bagged a hat-trick and an assist in a 7-2 win. He’s clearly miles above that level and needs to find the next step.
It remains to be seen whether that comes at Benfica, where Joao Mario, David Neres, Benjamin Rollheiser and Tiago Gouveia are all preferred options on the left. On top of that, they’ve now signed Jan-Niklas Beste from Heidenheim, who’ll be expecting regular minutes after a stellar campaign in the Bundesliga.
That could see Schjelderup head back out on loan, albeit that Liverpool have been linked with a permanent move. The Premier League could appeal to him and to Benfica, and his ability to play in any of the three positions behind the striker would make him a good fit for Town.
Yaser Asprilla
Ending with a bit of a rogue pick, Yaser Asprilla is really a right winger above anything else, although he can also play through the middle. Is that what Town need? Omari Hutchinson, Wes Burns and Liam Delap are all capable of playing there, while the left flank is lacking a bit more depth. However, it was impossible to ignore him after such a strong campaign for a Watford side who really struggled in the Championship.
The 20-year-old joined the Hornets from boyhood club Envigado in 2022. Last season, he ended up with six goals and seven assists in 44 games, although just 28 of those were starts. Fans quickly fell in love with his skill and flair towards the end of the campaign, and he’s since been away with Colombia at the Copa America.
As a natural left footer, he loves to cut inside and go for goal. He’s not overly fast, but he’s tall and intelligent. A bit like Sahraoui, his output would probably be much higher if he was playing in a better team.
A fee in the region of £15 million would probably be enough to sign him, with Arsenal reportedly keen on a move. There’s plenty of room to develop him into a top player, and he seems ready-made for the Premier League.
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