Town have confirmed the loan signing of Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey.

News broke that the Blues were in talks with the former Everton and Norwich City man on Friday with the 26-year-old having been at Playford Road to undergo a medical yesterday.

Town boss Kieran McKenna said at his Friday press conference that he was keen to make signings early in the transfer window and he has got his wish.

“It’s been an exciting couple of days and I’m just delighted to have signed and can’t wait to meet the lads and get started,” Godfrey told TownTV. 

“I have really enjoyed speaking to the manager and to have the opportunity to work under him now is something I’m very excited about. I’ve watched a lot of the games from the first half of the season and you can tell from those that the group is a tight one, full of players giving everything to achieve their goals.

“I’ve not played as much as I would have liked so far this season, but I feel ready to contribute and am looking forward to getting out there.”

Godfrey, who plays at centre-half or right-back, joined Atalanta for £11 million in the summer but has made only one appearance in Serie A and a return to England had been expected with Tottenham, Leeds, Wolves and Nottingham Forest among the other clubs to have been linked, although Town are understood to have been the only side to have made a concrete offer.

York-born Godfrey, who attended the Archbishop Holgate School in the city, the same as Jack Clarke, started his senior career with his hometown club, having spent time as a youth player at Middlesbrough, before moving on to Norwich City, with whom he won the Championship title in 2018/19 having had a spell on loan at Shrewsbury.

In the summer of 2020 he moved on to Everton and during his spell at Goodison Park he won two full England caps, adding to appearances at U20 and U21 levels.

Town have always seemed likely to be in the market for a player in the mould of Godfrey in this transfer window to compete for Axel Tuanzebe’s right-sided defensive role.

An overseas loan doesn’t count towards the two player limit in the Premier League, which affects only domestic loans.

ITFC

Broadbent23 added 16:10 - Jan 5 Welcome Ben. Believe in our project.
6

Leejames99 added 16:11 - Jan 5 Good signing, Ben Johnson played brilliant again today.
7

Gforce added 16:11 - Jan 5 Welcome aboard Ben,hopefully will help tighten that defence even further.Will probably replace Wolfy in the back three.Although to be fair,Woolfy hasn't done much wrong lately.
5

gosblue added 16:16 - Jan 5 Good signing. Davis was brilliant today but we can't keep asking him to play 90 minutes every week. That was a very tired tackle for their second penalty. BG will probably play in the cup. Welcome Ben
2

Bazza8564 added 16:18 - Jan 5 Welcome fella, I too think this is a sweeper coming in. we will see Let's get Doak in and another big CF this week too
2

dangerous30 added 16:19 - Jan 5 Good luck Ben wish you all the best
1

Vancouver_Blue added 16:29 - Jan 5 Welcome Ben.
1

IP9 added 16:30 - Jan 5 Signing someone, in a position we don’t need cover in, that’s played 36 games in the last THREE (93 mins in all comps this season!!!) is utterly ridiculous. Let’s hope he’s only there for emergency cover and to push Harry and Ben further…
-5

Cervantes added 16:31 - Jan 5 I always thought that he looked like a good young player at Naaarch. He was a little inconsistent, but I think that was because of his age. I was telling all the budgie supporters I know that they were selling a very good prospect, when he moved to Everton. Let's hope he hits the ground running, it might take him a while to adjust to our intensity and that of the Premier League. All the best Ben, do us proud.

1

Porksmith99 added 16:37 - Jan 5 There'll most likely be some dissenters, but a couple of decent performances and a willingness to give it all for the shirt will soon win them over
2

Tractor_Bhoy added 16:41 - Jan 5 Welcome Ben
2

Eeyore added 16:41 - Jan 5 Brilliant news. And even better to hear that Notwich wish they still had him. It’s going to be an exciting week for transfers.
0

Bergholtblue added 16:57 - Jan 5 Not over excited by this, but I have never seen him play. Let's see what he has learnt at Atalanta and how he settles in. Then I will give my verdict.
0

RobITFC added 17:00 - Jan 5 Good signing , welcome Ben and enjoy working under McKenna
0

BlueInBerks added 20:25 - Jan 5 IP9, you had better contact the club sharpish and tell them McK has made a mistake here and see if the deal can be cancelled
1

timbousa added 21:03 - Jan 5 Kieran McKenna has had a pretty good hit rate this season with transfers especially when factoring the fees compared to other EPL clubs have been able to pay. If the worst comes to the worst, then the 2025 resale money for Delap alone will pay for most of the 2024 summer expenditure. Bang on successes - Delap, Cajuste, O'Shea, Greaves, Hutchinson. Honorable mentions - Szmodics. B Johnson (free!) Time will tell - Phillips, Clarke (so close, today), Ogbene Mmm - Muric.

2

planetblue_2011 added 09:51 - Jan 6 Good luck Ben!! I’m not gonna mention the N word he’s with us now.
0

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls