Enciso Deal 'Agreed in Principle'
Tuesday, 11th Aug 2026 23:58

Town are reported to have reached an agreement in principle with Strasbourg regarding the permanent signing of former Blues loanee Julio Enciso.

Argentinian journalist César Luis Merlo and Tribuna.com say the clubs are finalising the details on the deal with the Paraguayan international set to travel to Suffolk to undergo a medical and complete the formalities regarding the switch.

Talks between the Blues and the Ligue 1 club, where manager Gary O’Neil was in charge during the second half of last season, have been ongoing for a fortnight with the player understood to have been keen on a return to Town following his loan spell in the second half of 2024/25.

Last week, it was reported a loan move was being discussed with Enciso having rebuffed interest from Turkish clubs.

The 22-year-old made 12 starts and one sub appearance, scoring twice, during his previous spell at Portman Road.

At the time, he was with Brighton but moved to Strasbourg on a four-year deal for around £10 million last summer, O’Neil taking charge of the Ligue 1 side from January until the end of last season. The Seagulls are understood to be due a significant percentage of Strasbourg’s profit.

Enciso, who scored 12 times in 42 games for Strasbourg during 2026/27, had joined Brighton from Club Libertad in his home country for £9 million in 2022.

Capped 37 times by Paraguay, scoring five goals, Enciso appeared for his country at this summer’s World Cup finals.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

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Roburmsyenna added 00:01 - Aug 12 superb
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ChingShady added 00:02 - Aug 12 Yes please.
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guentchev123 added 00:09 - Aug 12 Great news. Enciso proved in his first stint that he is the type of maverick player that can make something happen out of nothing, which is what we need. He will have improved since then and O’Neill will know what he is all about from their time together at Strasbourg. Guaranteed to score at least 2 goal of the month contenders this season.
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GTRKing added 00:41 - Aug 12 Great news hope not too much lol! Up the town
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trevski_s added 00:51 - Aug 12

Great news, hopefully can get him in by the end of the week at the latest and then he can have a solid week of training before the new season starts and brilliant news that its going to be a permanent deal. Its great that he knows Ipswich and what the club is about and also O'Neil knows how he operates. Does anyone know if GON preferred to play him on the left or as the number 10 spot? I feel like he is going to be an entirely different player this time round (in a good way)

BeattiesBackPocket added 00:56 - Aug 12 Loved him the first time looked different class add the extra experience, and his better defensive, tenacity and experience from the World Cup and we have some player.
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armchaircritic59 added 01:03 - Aug 12 Looks like another piece of the jigsaw going to be added. However, as it's at the moment " in principle " and not yet official, I will wait for that for a welcome. As it's now past 1am, although not especially late for me, I think in principle I should prepare to sleep :)
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ScotBlue2 added 01:07 - Aug 12 Trevski, from looking at team sheets, for the first month or so of GON being in charge at Strasbourg enciso played at 10. But then moved to more predominantly be a 9, where he definitely seemed to have more of an impact. Personally would prefer him at 9 as have been loving Egeli at 10 at the moment!
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RIPbobby added 03:11 - Aug 12 The kid has lots of ability. The one thing i dont like about it is the deal is essentially with Chelsea and i get the feeling the finances will be terrible. Brighton bought him for 9mil sold him for 10mil and Ipswich buy him for... When the missing piece is put in it wont be pretty. Never deal with Chelsea peeps.
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filobiz added 06:19 - Aug 12 been waiting for this one. enciso plus ueda and i'm happy to start the season! let's go Ipswich!
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commuterblue added 06:57 - Aug 12 We have benefitted twice from getting players with not long left on their contract, @RIPBobby, this one will certainly be different.
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Bluearmy_81 added 07:02 - Aug 12 “Thank God we’ve got evans….” Boom boom
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PortmanTerrorist added 07:15 - Aug 12

Love this, don't love the Maverick tag. He was emotionally locked into us but post injury, we were effectively down, and for sure he was focusing on his show reel for the good of his career. Can't blame him for that, but he was def a team player before that and was last year by all accounts under GON. Brilliant signing if it happens...probably for both us and the lad who needs a home now !

benslifeyt added 07:22 - Aug 12 Lovely news to wake up to
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:28 - Aug 12 Bring it on! Play Egeli at 10 as he's going to develop into some player; and play Enciso at 9, 'cos we haven't really fully sorted that position out yet. (But then what happens to Emersonn? O dear, Gary, over to you mate!)
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tractorboybig added 07:30 - Aug 12 Now this would be a good singing. He was a bit greedy last time but it can be worked on
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ITFC_1994 added 07:30 - Aug 12

Love it. Wasn't overly keen the first time but he was fantastic in the world cup and has clearly matured as a player. Crazy he's so young as seems to have been around for ages. Hope it's permanent as can only see his value increasing with us!

A striker, progressive/box to box midfielder and a RWB and we are good to go! Plenty of time left in the window. A more defensive /back up left back if we're being greedy but Greaves more then

Great work town!! COYB

tractorboybig added 07:32 - Aug 12 Sign
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Bazza8564 added 07:52 - Aug 12 Good, let's get it done and move on to other targets
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Town1Inter0 added 07:57 - Aug 12 Great signing. We still have 2 slots for loans from PL teams, so hopefully we’ll either add someone with lots of PL experience who’s still got it and or some exciting young talent.
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chorltonskylineblue added 07:58 - Aug 12 Do we know if Brighton have a sell on clause? They seem to include big percentages in these sorts of deals which inflates the price of the player when they're sold on on - i.e. to us.
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Blue_Heath added 08:03 - Aug 12 Brilliant news, love that its permanent.
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Benji1611 added 08:16 - Aug 12 Hell yes, can't wait for that 40 yard screamer!
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Dissboyitfc added 08:34 - Aug 12

This is excellent news! Losing count of how many international players who played in the World Cup we have on the books! Starting to look like sir Bobbys team, where the starting 11 were all international players with the exception of cooper of course! Weren’t that long ago when we were getting games rearranged because of call ups for youngsters with no senior internationals anywhere near the first team. Even you must be impressed Blueboy by the turnaround?

And more to come, get in!!!

CreigiauBlue38 added 08:37 - Aug 12 Excited by this and would be happy to see him up front supporting Emersonn or with Egelli slightly behind as the young Norwegian has been impressive in pre season matches. Time to forget about the Argentinian. With the number of newcomers, we are going to have to say goodbye to more of those that secured promotion - a somewhat sad fact of life as a footballer.
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