Town have confirmed the signing of Danish international left-back Jonas Knudsen from Esbjerg fB on a three-year deal with the Blues having an option for a further season.
The fee is officially undisclosed but is understood to be €500,000 (£350,000) with the 22-year-old’s Esbjerg contract believed to have had a buy-out clause set at that level.
Knudsen is set to make his first appearance in a Town shirt when FC Utrecht are at Portman Road for the final friendly of pre-season on Saturday afternoon.
TWTD understands that members of the Town management, including assistant boss Terry Connor, travelled to Denmark to watch Knudsen in action during the first few weeks of the Danish season.
Knudsen joined Esbjerg aged 10 from a local village club Hjerting and in March 2010 he made his first team debut against Randers aged 17, becoming the youngest player in the club's history.
He quickly established himself as a left-back and despite his youth has already played 153 domestic senior games (including appearances in the Europa League in 2013/14 and 2014/15), scoring six goals. He was part of the side which won the 2013 DBU Cup (Danish FA Cup).
Having impressed throughout 2013/14, when he was his club's Player of the Year, he broke into the Danish national team and has won two caps.
I'm very happy and proud to announce that I'm now representing Ipswich Town FC
#itfc @Official_ITFC pic.twitter.com/LtXhfQ3MJY
— Jonas Knudsen (@Knudsen23) July 31, 2015
Described as a physically strong player and a hard worker who enjoys a battle, he is also known for his long throws.
Knudsen, who was previously linked with the likes of French side Marseille and Dutch giants PSV, recently played at the European U21 Championships in the Czech Republic and has also won caps at U18, U19 and U20 levels.
Knudsen has been handed the number three shirt vacated by fellow left-back Tyrone Mings when he joined AFC Bournemouth for £8 million last month.
Photo: ITFC