Town have confirmed the signing of free agent midfielder Tom Adeyemi. Earlier today, TWTD was first to reveal that the former Norwich youngster was set to join the Blues, despite interest from his old club and a number of other Championship sides.
The 25-year-old, who has agreed a two-year deal with the club having an option for a further season, was out of contract having been released by Cardiff City at the end of last season having spent the campaign on loan at Rotherham.
"I have known about the interest from Ipswich for a while but it picked up over the last few days and having spoken to the manager, it was an easy decision to come here,” Adeyemi told the club site.
"I didn’t need to speak to anyone else about the move. I know what a great club Ipswich is. I know about the history. The manager told me about his plans and how I fitted in and I have always admired him from afar as well.
"They were all key reasons why I wanted to come here, but Ipswich showed the most interest in me as well and that was important. I wanted to join a club that I felt really wanted me and I feel that here.
"I know the club have signed a few players lately so there is a bit of rebuilding going on and I’m delighted to be part of that.
"It’s a fresh start for me. It’s a challenge I’m really looking forward to taking on - to produce some good football here and play my part in helping the club compete at the top end of the table.
"It’s a very competitive league but we will start with ambitions of finishing in the top six.”
Born in Milton Keynes but brought up in Norwich, Adeyemi came through the youth ranks at Carrow Road and spent time on loan at Bradford, Oldham and Brentford before moving on to Birmingham on a permanent basis in 2013 having been released by the Canaries after making eight starts and nine sub appearances without scoring.
🎥 | #itfc's newest recruit, Tom Adeyemi tells iFollow Ipswich what attracted him to signing on at Portman Road pic.twitter.com/TbEHtoRfyO– Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) June 30, 2017
After a year at St Andrew’s the 6ft 1in tall midfielder joined Cardiff for a fee in excess of £1 million. Having failed to establish himself as a regular with the Bluebirds in 2014/15, he moved on to Leeds on a season-long loan the following season.
Adeyemi, who qualifies to play international football for Nigeria, joined Rotherham in August last year on a similar basis and went on to score seven goals in 29 starts and one sub appearance for the Millers.
While with the Canaries' youth set-up, Adeyemi gained A* grades in his A Levels in biology and chemistry and an A grade in maths and turned down the offer of a place at Cambridge University.
The Blues are expected to confirm the season-long loan signing of 20-year-old Manchester City youngster Bersant Celina over the weekend before they travel to Ireland for their now traditional pre-season training camp at the Carton House Hotel in Co Kildare.