Ipswich Town: Ben Johnson on leaving West Ham and pre-season training

As the rest of his Ipswich Town team-mates finished their warm-down exercises, Ben Johnson walked around the side of the pitch to talk to the East Anglian Daily Times and Ipswich Star at the Kufstein Arena. He was quick to comment on how nice the surroundings were, nestled between the mountains on the edge of the River Inn.

The squad were set to fly back to England that evening after beating Hoffenheim 1-0 in northern Austria, a game in which the 24-year-old had played the first 45 minutes.

It ended up being a controversial pre-season training camp. The Blues had travelled out on the Wednesday and were due to face Borussia Mönchengladbach in Munich on the Friday, but the first team withdrew and were replaced by the under-21’s, frustrating the Bundesliga outfit and fans of both teams.

It was clear that they were lacking in numbers, but still got good minutes in the legs against Hoffenheim, putting in a much improved performance a week on from their defeat to Fortuna Düsseldorf. Johnson certainly saw the positives, both from a collective and an individual perspective.

“I think it’s been a mixed group at times but we’ve got a lot of the boys back fit and ready for the season,” he said.

“It’s going to be good. There’s going to be competition for places, we know the training is at a high level and a high intensity, so that’s going to help us every matchday.

The 24-year-old looks set to start the season as the Blues' first-choice right back (Image: Ross Halls)

“I think it’s been a really good pre-season, for me as well. It’s definitely been positive, I feel fitter and stronger. I just want to get the season started now and play some good football.

“We want to go to Portman Road and try to dominate teams as much as possible. Of course, we’re going to have some tough games, every game is going to be tough, but we want to play our game and our style.

“Hopefully that’ll give us a great chance during the season.”

It’s been ideal for Johnson, who arrived in Suffolk early. The right-back had faced numerous transfer rumours in the final weeks of his time at West Ham, with his contract slowly coming to an end.

However, he got his move sorted early, joining Town on the first day of the window, giving him the whole of pre-season to adapt to life at his new club.

“It’s been good,” he stated. “I’m glad I came when I did on July 1st and got a full pre-season in.

"That’s always a worry because you want to be signing somewhere when pre-season starts, so it was good for me to get in on July 1st.

“I’m still settling in and hopefully going to find somewhere to live in the next week or two, but the staff and the players have made me feel so welcome. They’ve been open with me, really loving and really want the best for me.

Johnson helped Town keep clean sheets against Hoffenheim and OGC Nice in pre-season (Image: Stephen Waller)

“They want the best for me, they’re seeing things in my game that can be enhanced – in all areas. That’s football, that’s fitness, that’s physiotherapy, you name it. It’s been really good.

“I’m very glad that I joined Ipswich and it was definitely the right place for me to come.”

Thankfully, the same can be said for many of the club’s new signings. Omari Hutchinson returned to Portman Road for a club-record fee at the end of June while Jacob Greaves and Liam Delap arrived a few weeks later. Arijanet Muric and Conor Townsend have since signed as well, making the squad look much healthier ahead of the Premier League opener.

“All the boys have settled in really well,” Johnson explained. “We’ve got Omari, who was here last year. Jacob and Liam are finding their feet, doing well, improving and impressing in showing their strengths.

“Week-to-week, the signings are definitely going to get stronger. We trust in the manager, who he signs and who he brings in, and we trust in the players who’ve been here because they’ve had success over the last two years.

“I’m definitely learning off them and the environment they’ve stabilised, really. It’s about keeping that in the Premier League and continuing those hard yards, that professionalism and elite performance environment that we want to continue.

The right-back spent five years with West Ham's first-team squad (Image: PA)

“It’s a great club with great staff. Hopefully we can start the season well, be competitive, play good football and win games.”

Based on all of that, it sounds like a move to Ipswich was a no-brainer, which Johnson is adamant is true. However, it was always going to be difficult for him to leave West Ham – a club that he represented for the best part of 17 years.

“The West Ham fans will probably know that I’ve been at the club since I was seven,” he argued. “I was gutted to leave and the fans themselves would probably say that it was the right time to move on, to try and develop myself and improve myself.

“I’m here to play football and I want to try and do my best, to squeeze every ounce of potential that I believe I have. The West Ham fans would definitely support me coming here.

“I had a great time there, they know that, and I certainly didn’t leave with any malice or any reservations. It’s just one of those things in football, you can’t be at a club all of your career, it’s unheard of.

“Always love to the West Ham fans and I’ll be looking forward to going back to the London Stadium to play against them.

“Everyone wants to play but there’s a squad of 25 and you can only fit 11 on the pitch. At times at West Ham, I didn’t get the minutes that I wanted.

"An opportunity came up and it was just in the time when my contract ran out, so it was one of those opportunities where you need to take the risk to develop your career.”

- Read part two of our Johnson exclusive tomorrow!