Ipswich Town suffered a major transfer blow

According to the Bournemouth Echo, Ipswich Town received a major blow this week when Bournemouth Head Coach Andoni Iraola admitted that Kieffer Moore may still have a future at The Vitality Stadium.

Moore played the second part of last season on loan at Portman Road, where he scored seven goals in 18 games to assist the club win promotion back to the Premier League. However, the striker, who joined the Cherries from Cardiff City in January 2022, still has one year left on his contract.

The 31-year-old is a prolific goal scorer in the EFL and has demonstrated that he can also score in the Premier League. These remarkable stats have prompted the Bournemouth manager to compliment his returning loanee.

“I am very happy. I am sure he has showed he can score goals. He is a very good number nine,” the Spaniard told the Bournemouth Echo.

However, he went on to admit that breaking into the first team as a regular starter is difficult for strikers because of Dominic Solanke’s consistently strong form since Iraola’s appointment last summer, even admitting that Enes Unal, who joined the South Coast outfit from Spanish club Getafe, struggled to get ahead of his English counterpart.

“But it is very difficult, even for Enes. Enes is doing very well, and it is difficult for me to give him more minutes, because right now, we have Dom Solanke. Dome is playing so well that he is not giving a lot of chances to the other number nines.”

If Bournemouth want to keep the Welshman, Ipswich will likely have to go elsewhere this summer. Despite having striker alternatives in his squad, Kieran McKenna may still be looking for a proven Premier League front.

The words from Iraola may be seen in two ways, and it appears that the future of his number nines is dependent on whether they can and will keep Solanke heading into the next campaign.

As a result, even if they do let Moore leave this summer, it will most certainly be late in the window, and it seems unlikely that McKenna and his staff will wait that long to recruit a top-flight ready striker. Thus, Ipswich fans may have to abandon all dreams of making the Welshman’s loan deal permanent.