Town have completed the season-long loan signing of Reims central defender Cédric Kipré.

On Wednesday, reports from France revealed the Blues had made an approach for ex-West Brom, Wigan and Cardiff man Kipré with the 28-year-old set to sign on loan with the deal reportedly including a mandatory option for a €4.5 million (£3.9 million) permanent switch should the Blues return to the Premier League in the campaign ahead. Reims have confirmed the deal includes an option to purchase.

Kipré travelled to Suffolk for his medical and to complete the formalities on his switch on Thursday.

“I spoke with the manager and I really liked what he said about the way he wants to work. He wants to work hard – I also want to work hard.” he told the club site.

The 6ft 4in tall central defender has spent much of his career in England, joining Leicester City as a young player from PSG in 2014 and having had spells with Wigan, West Brom and at Cardiff on loan.

Paris-born Kipré, who is right-footed by often operates as a left centre-half, moved to Reims from the Baggies last summer, signing a deal to the summer of 2027, with the Blues also having been linked.

Kipré, who played 28 times in Ligue 1 last season, made his international debut for the Ivory Coast, for whom he qualifies via his parents, in June having previously played for their U23s.

While at Leicester, for whom he failed to make a senior appearance, he spent time on loan in non-league with Corby Town, before a stint in Scotland with Motherwell.

During his time as a West Brom player, where he spent four years, he had a spell on loan in Belgium with Charleroi.

Town have been in the market to add to their central defensive ranks this summer with Cameron Burgess and Axel Tuanzebe having left on free transfers to join Swansea City and Burnley respectively.

Kipré is the Blues’ first outfield signing of the summer, following the recruitment of veteran keeper David Button following his release by Reading.

Photo: ITFC

cooper4england added 15:02 - Jul 13 Welcome aboard the promotion train. Next stop Premier League.
12

BulgarianBlue added 15:02 - Jul 13 Welcome! Now let's get a couple more signings in.
10

marvellous added 15:03 - Jul 13 Here they come!! Welcome, Cédric
7

blueboy1981 added 15:07 - Jul 13 Better than Burgess ? - I doubt that ! But Welcome Kipre to Portman Road - at least it’s a gaping gap filled. How well, we’ll see !
-22

flykickingbybgunn added 15:08 - Jul 13 Two down and how many more to come ? Welcome to Suffolk Cedric.
7

Rimsy added 15:09 - Jul 13 Don't know much about him, but looks like he'll add a dose of physicality to the defence, which is never a bad idea in the Championship. Welcome.
10

Miaow added 15:10 - Jul 13 That home shirt is looking smart.
5

bluesissy added 15:13 - Jul 13 Welcome to you cedric and Welcome to a fantastic club. You won't regret it.
7

bluesissy added 15:15 - Jul 13 Just noticed he's 6 foot 4....what a beast he should be! Definitely needed some muscle in the team.
6

Bazza8564 added 15:21 - Jul 13 I think this ill be a big week....
3

trevski_s added 15:23 - Jul 13 Welcome in Kipre, looks like he is going to be a UNIT in the back and very versatile as can play anywhere along the back if we need the either of the full back positions in an emergency. 5 CBs now and as we saw last time in the Championship, McKenna did like to play 3 CBs in some games so this gives us all the cover we need at the back (without putting too much pressure on Baggott) Next week is going to be one to watch with hopefully Matusiwa coming at least coming in and maybe one or two more

6

poet added 15:23 - Jul 13 Excellent, more to come I hope.
4

roysboys added 15:25 - Jul 13 Not your typical McKenna signing. But he must see something in himm
1

algarvefan added 15:42 - Jul 13 Welcome Cedric, wishing you a good successful stay on our attempt to get back to the Premier League this season.
4

jas0999 added 15:43 - Jul 13 Good start to what will hopefully be a very busy week of signings. This signing, albeit a loan, will help fill the void of many departures, but I’ll feel much better when we sign a striker or preferably two. Still, this signing brings much needed experience to the side and will help bolster the defence in what will be a long and tough season.
4

Gforce added 15:46 - Jul 13 Welcome to Suffolk, Cedric,I'm sure you'll love the area and I'm also sure you will soon have those opposition strikers done up like a Kipre !
3

Mark added 15:49 - Jul 13 This signing should certainly strengthen out defensive options. It would be good if we could confirm the buy option, is it mandatory if we go up?
2

tetchris added 15:54 - Jul 13 Yes a bloody proper signing. Fingers crossed it’s the first of many :)
3

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 15:59 - Jul 13 Good! A statement of intent. Welcome Cédric! Hope we can also get Azor Matusiwa in as well. But as we have seen, these signings take a lot of time to complete, with on-off-on all the way down the line. As far as we can tell from the outside, Matusiwa still seems possible, but by no means ceratian. After that, who knows?
1

TimmyH added 16:43 - Jul 13 He's had a very strange transfer life...at West Brom for a while but never settled there and put out largely to Cardiff twice on loan and then offered a new contract by the baggies in 2024 which he rejected to go to Ligue 1 outfit Reims (so a step up) now he's taken a step down back in the Championship again. Strikes me he hasn't really got a foothold in anywhere he's gone...saying that wish him all the best, and hope he's finds a rich vein of from.

2

Linkboy13 added 17:09 - Jul 13 Don't know much about him like some of the experts on here but should be a good squad player have my doubts in terms of Premier league quality though. Why are people still rabbiting on about Burgess he ended up about where he should be Swansea.
1

dangerous30 added 17:43 - Jul 13 Welcome to town and good luck for the season ahead
0

planetblue_2011 added 18:09 - Jul 13 Welcome aboard Cedric to ITFC. A couple more signings should do it for now. COYBS
0

armchaircritic59 added 18:17 - Jul 13 I did comment about the deal on the article before this, but I'll just repeat the main message from it, which was basically, welcome to Portman Road Cedric, and if you do indeed give everything out on the pitch every time, you'll be able to add ITFC to your list of very satisfied club fans.
0

Steelmonkey added 20:04 - Jul 13 Welcome Cédric, I hope you have a very successful season with us.
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