New Blues signing Samy Morsy says he’s excited to be part of the project at Portman Road and says there’s no chance he would have dropped a division for anyone other than Paul Cook, who he worked with at Wigan and Chesterfield, having been happy with Championship Middlesbrough.
Morsy, who skippered the Spireites and Latics and is expected to be handed the armband at Town, became the 19th Blues senior signing of the transfer window shortly before Tuesday’s 11pm deadline.
"Not a chance,” the Egyptian international told the club side when asked if he’d have moved down a league for anyone other than Cook.
"We’ve been very successful together and I think he’s built a very exciting squad.
"I loved my time at Middlesbrough, the manager, the staff, the players and the fans have all been amazing with me.
"When it was time for me to leave, I couldn’t think of a better place for me to move to than Ipswich.
"There were a couple of options but then the big pull for me was knowing the manager; his style of play, his record.
"I don’t want to be dropping down a level but hopefully it is just a season and then we can get this club closer back to where it belongs and striving to do well.”
Morsy, who will wear the number 55 shirt, while new keeper Christian Walton has been handed 28, says he was impressed by the signings the Blues have made this summer with Cook using one of those additions to persuade him to make the move to Suffolk.
"It’s massively exciting, you just look at some of the names,” the 29-year-old continued.
"The manager rang me to try and convince me and said 'We’ve just signed Celina’. My reaction was just ‘Wow!’ and he said 'Yeah, wow!’. It’s a project that I'm excited to be a part of.”