Ipswich Town’s best Premier League signings of all time

Ipswich Town have spent a pretty penny in the summer transfer window as they look to keep their place in the best league in the world. For that to happen, they will need some of their new additions to deliver.

Below, Football Whispers runs down five of Ipswich Town's best Premier League signings of all time, which can serve as a benchmark for those aforementioned new faces.

5. Liam Delap, ST

Football is a funny old game. Ipswich signed Liam Delap for £15m in the summer of 2024, with fans of both the Tractor Boys and other clubs questioning the fee. Within a matter of weeks, however, he was being dubbed the heir to Harry Kane’s England throne.

Chants of “Liam Delap” rang around Portman Road with the former Manchester City youngster a one-man wrecking ball at times as Ipswich looked to stay in the Premier League after back-to-back relegations.

He couldn’t manage to keep them there, mind. He did, however, score a dozen goals during the season, which was a third of Ipswich’s entire total for the campaign.

With relegation confirmed, Delap was probably the hottest property in the country, aided by a relegation release clause in his contract. It saw him leave Ipswich for £30m. His move to Chelsea hasn’t worked out, but Ipswich had a season of Delap at his best, inspiring a generation of fans and, after sell-ons, probably banked a tidy bit of profit too!

4. Pablo Counago, ST

Pablo Counago arrived at Portman Road in the summer of 2001, coming in on a free transfer from Celta Vigo.

Across all competitions, the Spaniard made 19 appearances, failed to score a single goal and was part of a squad that suffered relegation. And yet, he is still deserving to sit on this list.

Counago stayed with the Tractor Boys after relegation, bagging 21 goals the next season, including 17 in the league. Another double-digit campaign followed, with a few more coming the season after before a move to La Liga side Malaga.

After a couple of years away, Counago found himself a free agent once again. A return to Suffolk awaited. Whilst we cannot point to honours for Counago at Ipswich, his flair delivered some of the best moments Ipswich fans saw during the period between that 2002 relegation and Kieran McKenna’s reign beginning some 20 years later.

3. Omari Hutchinson, RW

As a permanent player, Omari Hutchinson could be bundled into a similar bracket as Delap.

He signed permanently for the club in the summer of 2024, delivered some moments to last a lifetime during the Premier League relegation season and then, after throwing some toys of the pram, returned to the top-flight banking Ipswich close to £20m profit.

Hutchinson’s story starts a little earlier, though, with the former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder having been a loan player at Portman Road when Kieran McKenna’s men took the Championship by storm in 2023/24.

His sole Premier League campaign for the club saw him score three goals. Each of those came against big opponents, with strikes against Tottenham, Man United and, critically, in Ipswich sole home win of the campaign against Chelsea.

His exit, a £37.5m move to Nottingham Forest, might have left a bad taste after he reportedly refused to play for Ipswich to force a move, but for memorable moments and player trading, his inclusion as one of Ipswich’s best Premier League signings of all time cannot be questioned.

2. Herman Hreidarsson, DF

Naming Herman Hreidarsson as one of Ipswich’s best ever Premier League signings will raise a few eyebrows but hold your abuse and argue with the evidence we’re about to stand up.

Hreidarsson was added to the Tractor Boys squad in August 2000 for a fee of around £4m. In his debut campaign, he made 35 starts in the Premier League as the pre-season favourites for relegation shocked the world to finish fifth.

Despite the Blues suffering relegation the next season, with the Icelandic giant an ever-present, Hreidarsson was part of the backline that recorded a shutout against Inter Milan at Portman Road in a UEFA Cup highlight and remained with the club until a £800k administration-forced sale in 2003.

He remains very much a loved Blue today.

Ipswich Town’s best Premier League signing of all time: Mauricio Taricco

To a lot of football fans, Mauricio Taricco will be known as the eccentric assistant to Gus Poyet. To Ipswich fans, he’s an electrifying fullback that has delivered countless moments of joy for them over the years.

Signing for around £150k back in the 1994/95 season, Taricco was reportedly signed to help fellow South American Adrian Paz, a signing that cost four times more, settle at the club. Taricco turned out to be by far the better signing, albeit he never actually made a Premier League appearance for the club.

His only appearance for Ipswich, whilst the club were in the top-flight came in cup action. Flowing locks, defensive solidity, attacking flair and some memorable goals – the most notable of which either coming against Norwich for the occasion or a thunderbolt as Ipswich sent Man United out of the Coca-Cola Cup – mean he lives long in the memory.

He left Ipswich in 1998, signing for Spurs for £1.75m. That is nearly 12 times more than the club paid for him.