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Chaplin Signing Confirmed - Ipswich Town News

Town have confirmed the signing of Conor Chaplin from Barnsley.

The 24-year-old forward joins on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £750,000.

"Maybe people looking in from the outside and seeing me drop from the Championship to League One might think it’s surprising but I don’t want to be in this division for long and Ipswich match my own ambitions,” Chaplin told iFollow Ipswich.

"It’s a massive club anyway but speaking to the gaffer and the people here, I can see what they want to achieve.

"As a player it’s important to play for a club that wants to really go somewhere and it’s exciting to be part of that.

"Obviously I know the gaffer well from our time together at Portsmouth and he was a big part in me coming here as well. I know how he likes his teams to play and I know how he is as a manager as well. There are no grey areas and that’s important to me. I can’t wait to get going now.”

Blues boss Paul Cook added: "I worked with Conor at Portsmouth and he is one of the nicest young men you could meet. He’s an infectious character, he loves football and he will settle into the dressing room in five minutes.

"He’s a natural finisher too. He’s probably the best finisher I have ever worked with in fact.

"With our attacking options now, I feel like we could be in a place where we can score goals at any stage in a game - that’s exciting.”

Chaplin is the Blues’ 10th signing of the summer and the second today following the addition of central defender George Edmundson.

Town CEO, Mark Ashton said: "It’s been a busy day and we are delighted to bring both George and Conor to the club. We wish them every success here.

"We are continuing to work on adding to the squad further before the season kicks off on 7th August and we will see what develops over the coming days.”

Chaplin came through the youth system at Pompey having joined them aged six and broke into their senior side in 2014/15 and was a regular in Cook’s side at Fratton Park after he took over at the start of the following campaign and a member of the squad which carried off the 2016/17 League Two title.

Worthing-born Chaplin joined Coventry on loan in the summer of 2018 with the move becoming a permanent switch in the January. The following summer he moved to Barnsley on a four-year deal.

In 2020/21 5ft 7in tall Chaplin, who plays wide or centrally as a number 10, made 34 starts and five sub appearances, scoring four goals.

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