Chief executive Simon Clegg revealed that new midfield recruit Grant Leadbitter was one of the first players manager Roy Keane hoped to sign when he move to Town back in April. The Blues formally announced the signings of Leadbitter and Carlos Edwards and the season-long loan of Liam Rosenior at a Portman Road press conference at lunchtime.
Clegg says that Keane has been looking to add Leadbitter to his squad for a while: "Grant was one of the first players that Roy identified that he’d like to bring to the club, some months ago.
"It has been an ongoing process for some time, but as soon as we got permission to speak to the player, we were able to conclude things in a fairly swift manner.
A regular at Sunderland during Keane’s time as manager at the Stadium of Light, Leadbitter spent 16 years with the Black Cats, the club he has supported as a boy, and says leaving is a wrench but that he needs to be playing more regularly: "It’s hard to walk away, but I needed to for the sake of me and my family. I just want to play football and be happy again.”
The 23-year-old, whose wife and baby will join him in Suffolk at the weekend, says he jumped at the chance of moving to Portman Road: "I’m happy to be here. I want to do well for Ipswich Town Football Club and get them back in the Premier League. Hopefully, we can do that this year.
"It’s a fresh challenge for me, one I was looking forward to as soon as I heard of the interest from Roy. I wanted to be here and want to push on with my career.
"Roy was a big factor in it. I know what he wants from a player and hopefully I’ll bring that to Ipswich and help us push on.
The former England U21 international gave fans an idea of what they can expect from him: "I’ve been brought up to give 100%. I’m a committed player, I like to get on the ball and hopefully I can bring quality to the side.
"I like to play in the middle of the park, but I’ve played on the right and I’m happy to do a job anywhere.”
Leadbitter, who has been given the number six shirt, joins the Blues for a fee eventually rising to £2.6 million, while Carlos Edwards is also making the move from Wearside, in a £1.35 million deal. Leadbitter has signed a three-year contract and Edwards has joined for two years with the option of a third.
Right winger Edwards is currently away with the Trinidad and Tobago national side ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and the US. The 30-year-old will be back a week on Friday and will go straight into the squad for the Middlesbrough game.
Leadbitter says he is pleased to have a familiar face joining him in making the move: "It helps knowing someone who is coming to the club as well. I’ve played with Carlos at Sunderland for a few seasons now and he’s going to be a big addition to the club.”
Clegg says Town’s third signing of the final day of the transfer window, the recruitment of Liam Rosenior on a season-long loan from Reading, has been confirmed: "We were just waiting for a ratification from the Football League and we got that this morning.
"We expect him to arrive at Portman Road later this afternoon and be available to join Roy and the rest of the team for training tomorrow.”
Clegg says the former Fulham man wanted a loan deal rather than a permanent switch at this stage: "When the player came down to see Roy over the Bank Holiday that this was his preferred route. We’re very excited, we think he brings strengths to the defence and we’re looking forward to him working with the rest of the squad.”
The Town chief executive refused to be drawn on claims of Reading interest in David Wright, although we understand the reported swap loan deal was never on the cards: ”If I responded to all the speculation I’ve seen regarding players coming in or going out of here, we’d be sat here for the next two hours.
"Both Roy and I are delighted with what we’ve been able to do inside this window. The three players which we are announcing today will be major additions to the squad and will help to take us in the right direction in terms of where we want to be going.”
Clegg, who says the club will continue to look at adding players on an emergency loan basis, revealed that no one was near to departing Portman Road on deadline day, but says some could leave on loan in the weeks to come: "There weren’t any players close to going out. We’ve had discussions about a number of players, reasonably advanced about a couple, but we’re pleased that the squad is intact and we’ll move on.
"Players want to be playing football and rather than having them sitting on the squad taking up wages, if they haven’t got the opportunity of playing for the team, then we’ll want to keep them fit and make sure that they do go out on loan.”
Football League clubs can sign players on an emergency loan basis for up to 93 days from next Tuesday.