Town’s final signing of the transfer window, striker Zian Flemming, admitted he was very tired after a ‘proper deadline day’ move to the Blues from Burnley, completed in the final hours of the transfer window.

As TWTD revealed, Flemming was at Town from yesterday morning ahead of the move but with the clubs still negotiating the deal.

Those discussions dragged on over the course of the day before an initial fee of £17 million plus a further £3 million in add-ons, some reliant on Town progressing well beyond their current position, was agreed in the early evening.

Following a medical and the usual media duties, the move was announced as the window closed at 11pm, the Dutchman having signed a four-year deal.

“Very tired, that’s the honest answer,” Flemming told TownTV when asked how he was feeling. “It’s been a proper deadline day, to be honest, with a lot of waiting around and phone calls and updates and non-updates.

“But obviously, besides that, I’m happy that we are now sitting here because it was definitely not a given that it was going to materialise.

“There were a lot of bumps in the road and difficult conversations and stuff that had to be sorted, but we’re here now, so that’s brilliant.”

Giving an insight into how a day like yesterday feels for a player, Flemming says a lot goes through your mind.

“I’m guessing from the outside, because I’m actually the same even though I’m a player, you see on deadline day it’s quite exciting for football fans, to see like, ‘this deal’s done, this deal’s done’,” he reflected.

“And it almost seems like getting a deal done is just like, ‘oh yeah, that deal is done’, but nobody thinks about the practical side of things, which already started over the weekend.

“It’s like, ‘OK, I need to play, I need to play a game for Burnley still’ and then the clubs are getting in touch and then the clock is ticking.

“You’re in a lot of insecurity and you’re leaving your family — in this case, a young family with a three-month-old baby — and you’re leaving your missus yesterday, saying, ‘well, I think it’s going to happen, which is going to be a good thing, but also, if it happens, it means we might not see each other for a while’ because you can’t travel up and down that quickly.

“And at the same time, it might also not happen, so your whole private situation is under stress because you don’t know where your home is going to be and everything is just insecure.

“But, I don’t want to make it sound like my life is that hard, because in the end it’s a positive move for me. I’m grateful that a Premier League team has come in to sign me and it has happened now as well. So, in the end, it’s all worth it.”

The 28-year-old is looking forward to returning to the top flight and facing Liverpool at Portman Road later in the week.

“Very excited,” he continued. “I’ve seen that the first game is on Friday, which is around the corner and also against one of the biggest teams in the Premier League.

“I loved playing in the Premier League last year, up against the top teams, but against every team really, and you just feel that you’re at the biggest stage, basically.

“As soon as this was done, I somehow finally allowed myself to find some space in my head to really look forward to that game and think like, ‘OK, yeah, it’s the real deal again’, playing against a club like Liverpool. I don’t have to explain how much excitement that brings.”

While 2025/26 was difficult for Burnley, who were relegated after only one season back in the Premier League, it was a successful year for Flemming, who netted 11 times in his first campaign at the top level in England, bagging another in the Carabao Cup, and carrying off the Clarets’ Player of the Year award.

“It was a very tough season,” he admitted. “Which we knew it would be from the start because you know when you come up from the Championship you need to get everything right.

“Not even just as a team, but also as a club and as a whole organisation in order to have a chance to stay up. And in the end, we just fell short in the total package, I think.

“Personally, I’ve done everything within my power to contribute to the club, to the team and ultimately to myself and to my own performances.

“If I talk about it now, I still feel disappointment because of the relegation because it’s just not how I had it in mind.

“But the flip side of it is that I can still be proud that I’ve been able to manifest myself as a proper Premier League player, which was not a given at the start of the season.

“I think there might have been a few people not expecting me to be able to adapt to that level, so happy that I’ve shown at even at the top, top level I was able to adapt.

“And now being back in here, because in the end my personal performances have earned me this move. Without that, I wouldn’t have been here, so it’s great.”

Amsterdam-born Flemming will be reunited with a few familiar faces in the Town dressing room.

“There a few Dutchies around,” he smiled. “It doesn’t mean that you straightaway know them, obviously, but Azor Matusiwa, I actually played with in the academy at Ajax, so I know him very well.

“And Kjell [Scherpen], I don’t really know personally, but we have some mutual friends, so that will be alright. And obviously, we’ve got Florentino [Luis], who I played with last year.

“So there’s actually probably the most connections than I’ve ever had moving into a new team.

“That should probably make it a bit easier. But, to be fair, even if they wouldn’t have been there, I’m guessing, from what I’ve heard anyway, is that it’s a good bunch of lads.

“And we’re used to, as footballers, I think, to stepping into new changing rooms, but also being in a changing room, we’re used to welcoming new players, so I think it will be alright.”

Asked why he felt things worked for him in the Premier League last season, he said: “I’m a bit different, I would say, mentality-wise. I’m a good player, don’t get me wrong, and I can score a goal and I’ve got qualities, but if I have to describe one thing, my mentality is the biggest one.

“And that in the end is what’s pushed me through from maybe not even being in the plans to being the number one striker, for example, in the Premier League, to all of a sudden being the Player of the Season. That’s what I probably will say.

“Now we’re obviously in a similar situation, or I am in a similar situation, because Ipswich got promoted and I got promoted with Burnley the year before.

“And now it’s up to me and to us to make sure that it doesn’t happen the same, it doesn’t end the same way as it did with Burnley and make sure that we stay up.

“It looks like and I feel like and everything that I hear around the club and that I’ve heard from people that I’ve spoken with, is that the club is in a really good place and very well organised, well led.

“And that there’s a clear plan and that there’s the potential to go and compete and go and do it.”

The one-time PEC Zwolle, NEC and Fortuna Sittard frontman says he spoke briefly with manager Gary O’Neil during the hectic final-day move.

“It was one conversation, as you can imagine the time didn’t allow too many chats but it was good,” he continued.

“Obviously, if you’re going to step into something where obviously the manager’s going to decide whether you play or not, it’s nice to at least hear someone’s voice and just have a little bit of a chat so you can get a feeling.

“And, I finished the conversation without any doubts, really. I thought it was very good, very clear. Good guy.

“Obviously I’m going to get to know him further, but there was no reason for me at all to think that it wouldn’t be a good match.

“It just sounded like he is quite sure what he’s talking about, if that makes sense. You can hear the confidence probably in the words that he says, but also in the way he says them.

“Between the lines, there’s a clear vision and a clear plan, and a clear determination I feel as well to be able to graft, to get it done because, let’s be honest, it’s not going to be easy, but that’s the fun bit as well.”

Quizzed on what fans can expect of him he added: “I can always guarantee that I’ll go full, more than 100 per cent. I am not a defender, but I’ll put my body on the line, I’ll put my head into challenges, I’ll fight for every ball.

“And as soon as we get in and around the box, I’ll try to be a threat as much as possible and always try and score and be dangerous, and be a platform to help the team to get up the pitch.

“But once we’re up the pitch, I’ve got a very narrow vision and it’s goals, goals, goals.”

Photo: ITFC/Matchday Images