Baggott Joins Gills on Loan - Ipswich Town News
Blues central defender Elkan Baggott has joined League Two Gillingham on a season-long loan.
"I'm very happy to be here, I want to improve myself and the objective for me, and us collectively, is to finish as high up in League Two as possible,” the 19-year-old told the Kent club’s official website.
"It's a really good vibe, everyone is happy. Friday was a good session and I'm now looking forward to the game tomorrow. I'm not afraid to make a tackle, I try my best.”
The 10-times-capped Indonesia international, who signed a new three-year deal last month, made his league debut for the Town at Rotherham in April and made another appearance in the 4-0 thrashing of Charlton on the final day having made his senior bow in the EFL Trophy tie against the Gills in October 2020.
Speaking in April, manager Kieran McKenna said he'd talked to Baggott about going out on another loan, the Colchester-raised defender having previously had a spell at King's Lynn in the second half of 2020/21.
"That’s a good possibility and something that we’ve spoken about with Elkan personally,” he said.
"That’s one good option for a young centre-half. Picking up a full season of regular starts can be a big step in your development, as we’ve seen with many centre-halves over the years with Luke Woolfenden easy to make an example of in terms of his experience of going out to Swindon and getting a full season.
"That’s definitely one really good possibility for Elkan, but it needs to be the right club, the right environment and all the right aspects need to fit together for it to be the right experience for Elkan, and if we find that then the possibility of him getting a year’s experience somewhere is definitely one we’re looking at.”
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