Town have confirmed the signing of Chelsea youngster Trevoh Chalobah on loan for the season. TWTD was first to reveal that the Blues were moving for the 18-year-old, who is manager Paul Hurst’s first Town signing, on Thursday.
"I'm delighted to be here," Chalobah, who is 19 a week on Thursday, told the club site.
"It's my first loan and I'm really excited. It's a great club and I'm ready for the season already.
"It's important for me, being a young age, that I come here to learn and grow as a player as the year goes on.
"It will be good to get to know the boys in pre-season and Luke Chambers has already brought me into the group so I can't wait to get going."
Hurst told iFollow Ipswich: "He'll give us a bit of flexibility, positionally. He's very comfortable on the ball, and he's a very good player.
"He's at an age where people might question him as he's a bit young. There will be demands put on him that he might not have encountered in the past but from speaking to him I know he's hungry to succeed.
"I like players who maybe have a little bit of something to prove and in Trevoh's case, he's got a lot to prove.
"There's a lot of good publicity around him in terms of potential but he understands, and he wants to go out and deliver.”
Speaking at the start of pre-season training this morning, Hurst said he likes Chalobah's versatility and believes he is similarly as good in his two primary roles.
Very grateful for the opportunity to join @Official_ITFC on loan for the season. Excited to get started, to learn and to give everything I’ve got for the team and the fans #itfc pic.twitter.com/J4tnOQKNVI– Trevoh Chalobah (@TrevohChalobah) June 25, 2018
"Centre midfield or centre-back, I think in either of those positions he can be equally as good," he said.
"He’s a very good player, very highly thought of, someone that in whichever position he’s in he’s very comfortable on the ball.
"Speaking to him, he sees the importance of this loan. We have fought off quite a bit of competition for him, so I think he’ll be a great addition.”
As previously reported, Chalobah, who can also play as a full-back, was at Playford Road last Tuesday for a look around and to meet Hurst with the clubs subsequently discussing the formalities relating to the switch.
Chalobah, the younger brother of Watford’s Nathaniel and an England U19s team-mate of Andre Dozzell, Tristan Nydam and Flynn Downes, is yet to make a senior appearance for Chelsea but was named among the subs for the FA Cup final in May.
He joined Chelsea as an U9 and has won numerous honours at academy level, including the UEFA Youth League in 2015/16, the FA Youth Cup (pictured above) the same season, as well as in 2016/17 when he also picked up an U18 Premier League winner's medal.
Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Chalobah, who can also operate at right-back, has been capped by England at U16, U17 and U19 levels.
He was a member of the squad which won the U19s European Championships last summer, alongside Dozzell, but missed the semi-final and final having suffered a knee injury in the final group game.
Last month, Chalobah was among the young England players Gareth Southgate invited to join his senior squad for training sessions at St George’s Park ahead of the World Cup finals.