Ipswich Town’s worst Premier League signings of all time

At the time of writing, Chieo Ogbene is still an Ipswich Town player but we don't see that lasting much longer. When he leaves, he has to go down as one of Ipswich's worst Premier League signings of all time.

It looked like a smart addition back in 2024, with the fattest part of £10m being paid to Luton to bring the athletic winger to Suffolk. Injury rocked Ogbene early into his debut season, limiting him to just five appearances across the campaign.

With Ipswich relegated during Ogbene's first season at the club, he then made just two Championship appearances before being shipped out to Sheffield United on loan. He failed to tie down a spot there too.

Now, he's back at Ipswich but well out of the picture. Assuming he leaves before the transfer window slams shut, he'll go having made just nine appearances across all competitions, weighing in with zero goals and zero assists.

3. Ulrich Le Pen – LM

There will be a fair few Ipswich fans in the younger generation that don’t even know who Ulrich Le Pen is. Does that speak volumes for him being amongst their transfer “misses”?

It does, but it’s a bit harsh on the player. Ipswich brought Le Pen to the club in a £1.5m deal back in 2001. He made his debut off the bench shortly after arriving but was stretchered off just 12 minutes later, with his career at Portman Road blighted by injury after that.

Come 2003, he left the club for Strasbourg on a free transfer, having amassed a grand total of just three sub appearances. At the time, Ipswich chariman David Sheepshanks labelled the entire fiasco as “neither a success for the club, nor the player”.

2. Aro Muric – GK

When Aro Muric signed as Ipswich’s number one goalkeeper in the summer of 2024, he was always going to have his work cut out to get the Ipswich fanbase on board. The reason was nothing to do with him, but he arrived after Championship promotion winning keeper Vaclav Hladky couldn’t agree terms on a new deal.

It was imperative, therefore, that Muric got his Town career off to a good start. He did not. He dropped two clangers in his debut against Man City, following that up with further high-profile howlers in matches against Brentford and Bournemouth.

With a £10m fee splashed to bring Muric in, combined with those mistakes, which contributed massively to the club being relegated, and a perception that his character didn’t fit the “band of brothers” culture that had earned the club back-to-back promotions, and he has to go down as one of the worst signings.

That said, at least the club recouped their money on him.

Ipswich Town's worst Premier League signing of all time: Matteo Sereni – GK

Muric might have been a bit of a disaster between the sticks for Ipswich, but we think Matteo Sereni might just eclipse him into the number one spot, which is ironic given the appalling legacy both leave on the Ipswich goalkeeping department.

Rewind to the 00/01 season and Ipswich, newly promoted, finished fifth in the Premier League, with home-grown Richard Wright between the sticks. He left for Arsenal and Ipswich brought Sereni in for a then club record £4.5m.

Sereni, a decent shot-stopper that was reportedly recommended to the club by Sven Goran Eriksson, never really lived up to the price tag, losing his place part way through the campaign.

Ipswich suffered relegation that season, after the highs of the year before, with many believing Sereni’s big money arrival, was a contributing factor to the dressing room losing its close-knit culture.